Reunion
by Eternal Soldier
Summary: Sequel to Pain in Amplification. When Reid begins seeing a familiar face from his past everywhere, is he going crazy as he thinks- or are the figures from his past really back? And more importantly, how will this affect Reid and Morgan's relationship?
1. First Sighting and Dominance

**A/N: It's time for a new Reid/Morgan fic guys! This one is a multi-chapter fic, focusing on the turmoil Morgan and Reid go through as some all-too familiar faces reappear in their lives. Before I give away the entire story, here's _Reunion_!  
>Oh and if you haven't figured it out by now this is SLASH, so if you don't like, don't read! <strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

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><p>It had been a hard case for the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit this time. Not finding the UnSub- that had been easy, once Reid had seen the pattern to the UnSub's victims. The hard part had been seeing what the man, Patrick Underwood, had been doing to the women he'd kidnapped; he'd strung them up by their ankles, beat them, burned them, and then sexually abused them before killing them by cutting them open and allowing them to bleed out- carving a broken heart into their chests. Underwood had been sick and twisted, and the team was glad to catch him before he could kill any more women.<p>

The team had now boarded their jet, and were on their way back to Quantico, Virginia. The two female agents, Jennifer 'JJ' Jareau and Emily Prentiss, had fallen asleep almost as soon as they'd taken off. Aaron Hotchner, their Unit Chief, was trying to finish as many of his reports as possible before the jet landed. David Rossi was hard at work on his almost-finished book. Spencer Reid and Derek Morgan, however, were sitting in the far corner of the plane, curled up in each other's arms.

They had been together for almost three months now, or as Reid could very accurately tell anyone, two months, three weeks, two days, four hours and twenty-seven minutes. Their relationship would've been a mystery to anyone who didn't know them both very well, and even some of those that did. Reid was younger, rather skinny, definitely not athletically inclined, and he was a socially awkward genius. He'd barely been with anyone in his life; in fact before Morgan, Reid had actually been a virgin. Morgan on the other hand was older than his boyfriend, very fit, athletic and strong, and had been a serial ladies' man before Reid confessed. In fact, no one could remember him being in a serious, long-term relationship before this point.

Most people still didn't know about Reid and Morgan. In fact, the only people that did know were the members of their team: JJ, Prentiss, Hotch, Rossi, and their technical analyst Penelope Garcia. JJ had been the only one who'd known straight away (before the couple had even gotten together) and Garcia had found out a few days later. It had been a while before Reid and Morgan had told the rest of the team; relationships between fellow FBI agents were strictly forbidden, especially when they were in the same unit. Eventually though, Reid and Morgan had felt the team deserved to know, and they had told them. Despite Reid's fears (and Morgan's, even though he wouldn't admit to it) the team had completely accepted their relationship- even the ever-so-serious Hotch. He had warned them of the ramifications if and when the FBI did find out, but other than that he'd been happy for Reid and Morgan. They all had.

Morgan smiled and pulled Reid closer to him, pressing a kiss to his forehead. They could relax on the jet, away from curious eyes that could report back to Section Chief Strauss. Only the team could see them now, so they didn't have to hide. Reid smiled up at Morgan and kissed him before snuggling into his chest, trying to draw warmth from the older man's body.

Morgan began stroking Reid's hair, as the two of them relaxed. It had been a stressful day, not to mention the two of them couldn't show affection for each other in front of the local police. Their relationship had to remain a secret.

"You still coming over later?" Morgan asked Reid.

Reid nodded into Morgan's chest. "Of course I am," he replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because this case has been stressful, and tiring," Morgan pointed out.

"So? That makes me want to spend time with you even more," Reid argued. "I'm more relaxed around you than I am around anyone else."

"Yes, but I don't let you sleep most of the time, remember?" said Morgan, winking suggestively, and laughing.

Reid pulled a face at Morgan, which only succeeded in making the older man laugh even more. "What, don't you want me to come over?" said Reid, slightly teasing but also worrying that Morgan's answer would be yes.

Luckily, Morgan knew Reid well enough that he could see the genius's underlying fear. "That's not what I meant," he assured him. "I was merely going to suggest that we go to a restaurant or something, grab something to eat. What do you say?"

"Why not?" said Reid. "I am rather hungry, and we don't get to go out that often."

"It's a date then," said Morgan with a smile, leaning in and kissing Reid.

"We do have to be careful to go somewhere where it's highly unlikely someone from the FBI will see us," Reid reminded Morgan. "I've had to hide our relationship all week from the cops. I can't be bothered hiding anymore. Nor do I particularly _want_ to hide us right now."

"No problem," Morgan promised. "I know just the place."

He felt the genius nod once in agreement against his chest and stroked the younger man's hair gently as they settled down for the rest of the flight, still lying in each other's arms.

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><p>Morgan ended up taking Reid to an Italian restaurant near his house. The restaurant was small, which made it that much less likely that they would be seen. Morgan also knew the owner, who ensured that they got a booth cut off from the other customers.<p>

"This place is really nice," Reid said sincerely as they sat down.

"I bring my sisters here nearly every time they visit," Morgan explained. "They love it; I thought you would too."

Reid nodded and looked down at the menu, his expression thoughtful. One glance though told Morgan that he wasn't just trying to decide what to order. "What's eating at you, kid?" Morgan asked.

Reid didn't reply at first- instead he chose to keep his head down, still pretending to examine the menu. Just when Morgan thought Reid wasn't going to say anything, the younger man looked up and said, "Have you told them about us?"

Morgan just looked at Reid, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Your family," Reid clarified, and Morgan understood. "Have you told your family about you and me?"

Morgan shook his head. "No, I haven't. Not yet. The opportunity hasn't come up," he replied.

Something flashed in Reid's eyes, but it disappeared almost instantly. "Why? Why haven't you told them?" he asked.

"It's not exactly an easy thing for me to tell them, Spence," said Morgan.

"Why?" said Reid, his voice suddenly dipping in volume. "Are you… are you ashamed of me or something?" And Morgan suddenly realised what he had seen in Reid's eyes: hurt.

"What? Spencer, no!" Morgan protested. "Don't think that; never, _ever_ think that." Morgan reached out and took Reid's hand, the genius looking up at his lover. "I am _not_ ashamed of you, pretty boy. I'm proud of you, I'm happy to be with you; I want to show you off to everyone. I love you more than anything, kid." Morgan took a deep breath. "It's just… I was never in a long-term, serious relationship before you, Spencer. I've never brought anyone home to my family, and I've only ever dated women before you. I've spent most of my life drowning in women and meaningless flings and one-night stands, so to tell my Mum and my sisters about you- a man- would be a majorly big deal. I kinda want to tell them in person."

"So you do want to tell them?" said Reid.

Morgan nodded resolutely. "I do, definitely. I just don't want to do it over the phone. I want to tell them to their faces."

Reid hung his head again, feeling both guilty and ashamed now. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I've ruined the entire night."

"Spence," said Morgan, squeezing the younger man's hand. "Don't feel guilty. And you have not ruined the entire night." Morgan leaned forward and kissed Reid gently. "Any night I spend with you is a good one."

Reid smiled and blushed slightly, but broke away from Morgan when the waiter came to take their orders. Reid ordered a seafood dish, and Morgan ordered pasta. Their dishes weren't brought over by their waiter though. Rather, they were brought over by a middle-aged Italian woman, who was Morgan's friend and the owner of the restaurant.

"Derek Morgan!" she exclaimed as she set down the two plates down and hugged Morgan. "It's been too long!"

"Definitely, Mrs. Di Luca," Morgan agreed, hugging the woman back. "How's your family going?"

"Fantastic," the matronly woman replied. "My eldest girl has just started high school. What about your mother and your sisters? Sarah and Desiree?"

"They're doing well," said Morgan. "Desi just got a new job, actually. She's pretty excited about it." Reid shifted slightly in his seat, and Morgan turned to look at him. Reid shot him a meaningful look, and Morgan nodded. "Mrs. Di Luca, this is Dr Spencer Reid." Reid smiled and shook the woman's hand.

"Dr Reid, wow," Mrs. Di Luca exclaimed. "You have a doctorate at your age?"

"Three, actually," Reid corrected, unable to resist. "As well as two additional BA's- and I'm completing a third at the moment. And as for my age, I'll be twenty-eight in a few months."

Morgan had to laugh at that. That was typical Reid; telling a person how many degrees he had. "And how do you know Derek, Dr Reid?" Mrs. Di Luca asked.

"Spencer and I both work together at the FBI," Morgan answered. "And he's, well, sort of my boyfriend."

To the woman's credit- and to Reid's surprise- Mrs. Di Luca just beamed at them. To the normal person she wouldn't appear shocked at all. Reid however, could see the slight astonishment in her eyes, but there was no hint of malice or malcontent. "Well Dr Reid, you've got a good one there. Although he doesn't like to stay connected to one person for too long, if you know what I mean."

"Trust me, ma'am," said Morgan, reaching out and taking Reid's hand again, "that's not the case anymore. I plan to be with Spencer for a very, very long time. I love him."

"I'm glad you've finally found someone to make you happy, and that you love," said Mrs. Di Luca sincerely. "Enjoy your meals, boys."

When the woman had walked away, Reid turned back to face Morgan with an expression of pleasant surprise. "I wasn't expecting that," he admitted. "How do you know her?"

"She's a friend of my mother's," Morgan explained. "I didn't even know that she owned the place when I first came here."

Conversation was sparse from then on as Morgan and Reid tucked into their food. Occasionally they would feed each other food off their forks, and Morgan would tease Reid by, ever so slowly, taking a single strand of pasta into his mouth. Reid would scowl at Morgan when he did this, but that did nothing to stop the older man; rather it spurned him on. Morgan had said before, and still truly believed the sentiment; Reid looked even cuter when he was angry.

Reid couldn't help but see the clichés that were abundant in the scene. He quickly analysed the situation and came to the conclusion that, if the two shared a plate and thus a single strand of spaghetti, their date would be almost as cliché one depicted in Lady and the Tramp.

"What do you say to getting out of here and back to my place?" Morgan suggested after they'd finished eating.

"And not have any dessert? Derek, that's not like you," Reid teased.

"Ah, but why would I need dessert, when I have you?" said Morgan, causing Reid to blush slightly. He almost found himself yearning for the days when he didn't blush at all, and no one could see his embarrassment and tease him about it.

Morgan waved the waiter over and paid their bill, leaving a rather generous tip for the young boy and Mrs. Di Luca, before taking Reid's hand and leading him out of the restaurant. A large number of the other patrons turned to stare at them, some smiling, some just staring, and some with derisive and disgusted expressions, but Morgan just pulled Reid closer to him with one arm and ignored them. Reid had no idea how Morgan could ignore all the looks, as well as the comments that were coming from those disgusted diners, but he was glad he did. It made Reid feel a lot more comfortable and a lot less self-conscious being out in public with his boyfriend.

When Reid bent down to open his car door, something across the street caught his eye and he looked up, startled. He was sure he had imagined it- what he had seen had to have been impossible.

Reid looked around to where Morgan's car had been parked, but the other agent had already driven off towards his house. There was no way he could've seen what Reid had, then. He stared across the street once more, trying to catch another glimpse. Just when he thought it was his imagination or exhaustion playing tricks on him, he saw it again. Or rather, he saw _her_ again. But it couldn't have been. There was no way she'd come back. Reid blinked, and then she was gone. Surely it hadn't been real. No way.

Reid stood there staring at that spot for a while, before he realised that Morgan was probably waiting for him and climbed into his car. Even so, he sat there for a few moments before starting the engine, and as he drove his mind was on what he had seen. Or at least what he thought he had seen.

Reid was still lost in thought when he reached Morgan's front door, and the older man took him into his arms. "What took you so long?" Morgan asked.

"Nothing," Reid murmured absently, resting his head on Morgan's shoulder. What he had seen was driving him crazy. He just wanted to forget. Not that he had seen something bad- Reid would actually like to see her again. Rather, he knew there was no chance she would actually return, and he was killing himself trying to figure out why she was there.

Morgan of course had not believed Reid's answer, and pulled the younger man away from him so he could study his face. "It's not nothing, Spence," said Morgan. "Did something happen?"

Reid shook his head. "No, nothing _happened_," he said. "It was-" Reid stopped, not sure whether he could continue.

Morgan took Reid's hand, bringing it up so it was held in between them. "You know you can tell me anything, right?" he whispered.

Reid nodded. "I know, Derek," he said. "I know. It's just that I thought I saw-" Reid stopped again, cutting himself off. He couldn't voice what he had seen, couldn't speak her name. That would mean admitting that he'd seen her, which was crazy. "It's not important, Derek, really." When Morgan looked at him skeptically, Reid added, "I was just imagining it. Can we go inside?"

Morgan was hesitant, but he nodded and led Reid into the house. Reid turned around as he walked in the door, but all he saw was a car further down the street pulling off and driving away. Further proof he had been imagining things earlier. He would just get lost in the moment with Morgan, then, and forget he'd ever seen her.

As it was, that wasn't very hard to do- as soon as the door had clicked shut, Morgan had pushed Reid up against it, pinning down his wrists and kissing him. Instead of trying to break free of his restraints, Reid put all of his energy into returning Morgan's kiss. Eventually, yearning for more of the younger genius, Morgan's hands relaxed their hold, and Reid was able to force Morgan around and up against the door instead.

Morgan gasped in shock and pleasure; Reid allowing his more dominant side take over always made his resistance weak. Reid pressed himself against Morgan. Morgan kissed back ferociously and tried to regain control, for although the younger man's dominance was undeniably attractive, Morgan found it nigh impossible to give in without a fight. Reid, sensing the older man's plans, quickly analysed the situation and, after finding it to be the best course of action- with an 80% chance of success- rolled his hips. Morgan gasped at the friction at their crotches increasing dramatically and sent a ripple of pleasure to his brain. Reid took advantage, finding it easy to slip his tongue into the older man's mouth while he was distracted. He had miscalculated slightly though, not taking into account the pleasure his actions would cause him, and had to fight to concentrate on his task. He would have to remember to factor that into his thinking next time.

The two continued their session and, when he was sure that Morgan wasn't going anywhere, Reid removed his hands from Morgan's wrists and slowly slid them under the man's shirt and up his back, lightly scraping his nails across the sensitive skin. Morgan shivered in response and Reid moved his hands around to Morgan's chest, beginning to work on his nipples, gently rubbing and teasing the receptive flesh. When he tired of only using his hands, Reid pulled Morgan's shirt over his head and, after a slight hitch involving their connected lips and an inability to phase the shirt between them, began kissing his chest, feathering small kisses and sharp nips down to the man's belt.

Morgan moaned in protest. "Pretty boy…" he murmured. "Pretty boy, stop teasing me, please." His voice hitched slightly as the genius nipped at his hip.

"_I'm_ in control now," Reid whispered, sending chills down Morgan's spine. "I can do whatever I want to you." Reid's words thrilled Morgan; he'd always wanted Reid to take charge. Reid pulled off his tie as he talked, and began working his mouth back up Morgan's chest, across the collarbone and up the curve of his neck before finally reaching his lips.

"You're _mine_, Derek Morgan," Reid growled, in a rare show of possessiveness, unbuttoning his own shirt and tossing it aside before removing Morgan's belt, fumbling only slightly as it stuck. He began tugging on the pants button, having difficulty undoing it when unable to see his hands, and Morgan, sensing his struggle, obliged by slipping them off himself.

"Bedroom. Now," Reid ordered deeper voice than usual, arousal clear in his tone. Morgan nodded, a smirk on his lips. He was going to enjoy this greatly.

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><p>Reid woke up in the morning feeling very happy- much happier than he usually did after a night with Morgan- not that he didn't usually feel happy every moment he was with the man. This, however, was different. He felt complete somehow, and more certain this relationship was going to last than he ever had before. He lay there for a moment, thinking about what he had done, finally taking charge in their relationship. It was like the final frontier, a step that needed to be taken, and last night that had been fully achieved.<p>

Reid kissed Morgan on the side of the neck, suckling gently, tasting the residual sweat from the night before on his skin, until the older man began stirring. "Morning," he whispered.

Morgan smiled, rolling over in the bed so he faced his lover. "Hey you," he said. "Last night was… amazing. _You_ were amazing."

Reid smiled sheepishly. "It was okay, right?" he said. "What I did?"

Morgan laughed. "Oh, yeah," he agreed emphatically. "Spence, it was _more_ than okay. You don't know how much I wanted you to do that."

"Well good," said Reid, kissing Morgan. "Now we really should get ready for work. You know what Hotch is like if we're late too often- and he said Strauss would be about today."

At the mention of the Section Chief's name, Morgan almost leapt out of bed, managing to pull the covers off of both himself and the young genius. "We _definitely_ shouldn't be late, then," he said. Reid followed Morgan immediately, both of them getting dressed without a second glance at each other, knowing that would end in them both being late.

Reid gave Morgan a quick, but fiery, kiss farewell before he headed out the front door to his car; Reid always left before Morgan, because, before their relationship he'd always arrived at work before the other agent, and to change that routine now would merely arouse suspicion.

Just as Reid put his hand on the door of his car, though, he caught a flash of something across the street. He looked up, startled. _No way_. Not again. He didn't have the excuse of being tired this time, to explain away what he had seen. That left three options: one, that it was somebody who looked a lot like her. Two, that she was actually back- which was extremely unlikely. And three, that Reid was going crazy.

In Reid's mind, option number three was the most likely one. He wouldn't have seen a lookalike so often, in such a short space of time, and there was no way that she'd be back in town. Reid had always feared that this would happen, him going crazy- and now it appeared that it was.

Noticing that Morgan was watching him from the window, Reid jumped into his car and hurried off. He couldn't worry Morgan- he wouldn't. He remembered what had happened two weeks prior, when Reid had been infected with anthrax and how worried and scared Morgan had been. He didn't want to be the reason the man he loved felt like that again. Reid didn't want to admit it to himself, but he was also afraid that if Morgan found out he was going crazy, he would leave him- and he definitely didn't want to let that happen.

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><p><strong>AN: So how did you like the first chapter guys? As always, I would love to hear what you think! I just had to put in romance between Reid and Morgan considering there was hardly any in the oneshot, but I didn't think it worked putting actual smut in the first chapter- please don't hate me for that! :P And I wonder who it is that Reid keeps seeing everywhere... you can guess if you want, but I'm not gonna spoil the surprise!**

**Note from Diamond Cobra: "Yays for number 4 in Eternal's Reid/Morgan verse =D. Btw, anyone want the actual sex from this chapter and not just that teasing snippet? I'm perfectly willing to write it, dominant Reid sounds fun. But if nobody wants it I won't bother =3." **

**Review time! :P**


	2. You're Not Crazy

**A/N: New chapter time, guys! I know a few of you tried to guess who Reid was seeing everywhere, and I have just one thing to say: it's actually a lot more obvious than you think! This chapter does get kinda angsty, but there are a few sweet moments in there too. Now it's reading time! :P**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

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><p>Reid was awfully quiet that day at work. This worried Morgan terribly- normally he'd have some sort of retort when Morgan and Prentiss teased him, but today he said nothing. He didn't even react when Morgan had made a very obvious sexual innuendo. At first Morgan thought it was something he had done the night before, but then he remembered how happy Reid had been when he'd woken up. Reid couldn't fake that. It had to be something else.<p>

Morgan thought about just asking Reid point blank what was wrong with him right then and there, but he scrapped that idea immediately. Reid would've balked if Morgan had asked him in front of anyone, and Reid had already said that nothing was wrong with him the night before.

A thought suddenly struck Morgan as he remembered the state Reid had been in when he had arrived at the older man's house. He'd been very distracted, and Morgan had not believed him when he'd said that nothing was wrong. He had said that nothing had happened… so was it something he had seen? And what could it have been to make him act so strange?

Reid worked quietly and studiously on his paperwork throughout that day. He knew that Morgan was watching him, worrying, but Reid didn't want to talk to him. He didn't want to make Morgan worry even more, or even think that Reid was going crazy. And in Reid's experience, whenever somebody thought that about him they'd leave. He didn't want that to happen with him and Morgan.

"Hey, Derek?" said Reid, appearing beside Morgan towards the end of the day. "I don't think I'm coming over tonight."

Morgan looked up at Reid, confused and slightly hurt. "Why not?" he asked.

"I- I'm just not feeling that well right now," Reid murmured. He certainly did look rather pale, even for him.

"Do you want me to come stay with you, then?" Morgan offered. "You know, just in case you need help, or you get worse or something."

"No, I'll be fine," said Reid. "I think I just need to rest. I'll be fine in the morning."

"If you sure…" said Morgan, sounding anything but. He reached out and took Reid's hand, startling the younger man. "Feel better, okay?"

Reid nodded. "I'll be fine in the morning, Derek," he promised. "I just need to sleep. Don't worry about me."

Reid walked away, noticeably without the spring in his step that he'd had since he'd first kissed Morgan. He now felt incredibly guilty about keeping the truth from Morgan. He knew that Morgan had promised that he'd stay with Reid no matter what, which would include the genius going crazy. Even with that assertion though, Reid could never be sure. And he just didn't want to take that chance. He couldn't risk losing Morgan.

Morgan's eyes followed Reid as he walked across the bullpen and into the elevator. If he had thought it would help, he would've run across the office and stopped Reid from leaving. But Morgan knew that demanding an answer out of Reid wouldn't work, and it would also risk exposing their secret.

When Morgan turned back around to his desk, it was to find Prentiss staring at him. "What?" he said to her, before looking down at his desk.

"You're just gonna let him walk out of here like that?" said Prentiss incredulously.

"Going after him now isn't going to help anything," Morgan replied.

"But _surely_ you can see there's something more going on that him just feeling unwell," Prentiss pressed.

"It's none of your business, Prentiss!" Morgan snapped. "Just drop it, okay?"

Stunned, Prentiss did exactly as Morgan asked. She and Morgan both knew, though, that Morgan's unusually hot-heated retort towards her meant that he was really worried about Reid.

"I don't think I did anything wrong…" Morgan muttered under his breath, Prentiss studiously and tactfully ignoring him. He was almost sure of this fact, because Reid would've kept his distance from Morgan if the genius's current state had been his lover's fault. Instead, he had given Morgan a very weak explanation to try and stop him from worrying. No, Reid was worried about something else… maybe something that had happened to him?

"Morgan, I know it's none of my business, and I know you want me to back off- and that's your decision, I respect that- but seriously, go to him," said Prentiss suddenly. "He may not want to tell you what's going on yet, but at least he'll have you to hold on to."

Morgan nodded. "You're right," he admitted. "I need to hold him. I need to be there for him, to help him." Prentiss knew that Morgan was remembering a few weeks earlier, when Reid had been infected with a deadly strain of anthrax by an UnSub. Morgan had felt powerless to help Reid as he fought for his life, and he was still counting his blessings that Reid had survived and was still with them. If Reid ever needed Morgan, Morgan would be there.

Morgan stood up from his seat and grabbed his jacket. "I'm gonna go now then," Morgan decided. He almost ran out of the bullpen and towards the elevator, Prentiss watching him as he went. When the elevator doors closed, Prentiss turned around to see JJ watching from her office doorway with a confused and worried expression on her face. Prentiss shrugged, and indicated the stack of uncompleted paperwork on Reid's desk. JJ nodded in understanding; Reid would never leave his paperwork unfinished. Morgan was worried that something was really wrong with him.

Morgan pulled up outside Reid's apartment building, and took the stairs to his third-floor apartment two at a time. He wasn't going to take the rickety old elevator; he could distinctly remember the time almost two years ago when he and Reid had been stuck in one.

Morgan finally found Reid's apartment and rapped his knuckles loudly on the door. "Spencer, open up!" he called. "I know you're in there!" Morgan waited a few moments, but there was no answer from inside the room and no sound of footsteps moving across the floor. "Come on, Spence, I'm worried about you!" Morgan tried again. "Please let me in!"

There was movement from inside the apartment, before the door creaked open and Reid appeared. He definitely didn't look sick. He looked… scared. "You're worried?" Reid said in a small voice.

"Yeah, I am," Morgan agreed. "I love you; you need to let me look after you."

Reid seemed to be studying Morgan for a moment, before he stepped aside from the doorway. "Come in," he said.

Morgan moved passed Reid and into the room, the genius closing the door behind him. When Morgan turned back around, he really saw the fear in Reid's eyes. "Oh, pretty boy…" he whispered, taking Reid into his arms and holding him close. He gently stroked Reid's hair, trying to soothe the younger man.

"I'm scared, Derek," Reid admitted in a small voice. "I… I think I'm going crazy." Morgan knew now why Reid was so worried; one of his greatest fears was developing schizophrenia like his mother.

Morgan gently removed his arms from around Reid and let him over to the couch. "Tell me what's happening," he said softly.

"I'm- I think I'm seeing things," Reid managed to get out. "I- I'm seeing her _everywhere_. And there is _no_ way she'd come back to DC- no way she'd want to. So the only thing that can explain me seeing her is-" Reid's voice caught in his throat and he stopped speaking, unable to go on.

"Who are you seeing?" Morgan asked.

Reid seemed not to have heard Morgan. "We all knew when she left that she wasn't coming back, that we'd never see her again. There's _no_ way that I'm seeing the real her," he said.

Something clicked in Morgan's mind, and he finally realised who Reid was talking about. "You don't know that, kid," he said. "It could be her- it isn't impossible for her to be in DC. Please don't worry so much. There's nothing wrong with you."

"You think so?" said Reid, a slight tone of hope in his voice.

"I know so. Nothing is wrong with you," Morgan repeated with confidence. "In fact, to me everything about you is right."

Reid gave a small smile, which warmed Morgan's heart. "I love you, Derek," he whispered. Morgan knew just what to say to make Reid feel better, even if the younger man wasn't completely sure of Morgan's words. Morgan smiled back and pulled Reid to his side in a one-armed hug. Reid leaned into his side, resting his head on Morgan's shoulder. Reid's eyes closed as Morgan unconsciously began stroking his hair again, and it wasn't long until the genius was fast asleep.

Morgan looked down at Reid, and the peaceful expression that he was finally wearing on his face. He looked so damn _adorable_ while he was sleeping; but then again, everything Reid did was cute to Morgan. A sleeping Reid really took the cake, though. Watching the genius, holding him in his arms, Morgan wondered why it had taken him so long to see that. No matter- he had Reid now, and that was what counted.

Morgan's eyelids became heavy as he sat there on the couch with Reid, and he realised he needed to sleep too. But Reid looked so calm in his arms; he was hesitant to move him and chance waking him up. On the other hand, Reid was a pretty heavy sleeper, and if they slept on the couch they would wake up extremely stiff and sore in the morning.

Making up his mind, Morgan carefully shifted Reid's body so he could get up off the couch. The younger man stirred, but luckily he didn't wake. Morgan then slipped one arm under Reid's back and one behind his legs, and oh-so-gently lifted him into his arms. Reacting to Morgan's warmth and touch, Reid automatically turned towards Morgan in his sleep and buried his face in the older man's chest. Morgan chuckled and carried Reid into the bedroom, laying him down carefully on the bed. He studied the sheets for a moment, trying to figure out how best to use them to cover up Reid, before pulling a blanket out of Reid's cupboard and using that instead. Morgan then climbed under the blanket himself and gently pulled Reid close. Once again, the genius unconsciously turned towards Morgan and snuggled in to him, burying his face in his chest. Morgan closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, breathing in the smell of Reid. _You'll be okay, Spencer_, was Morgan's last thought as he fell asleep. _And even if you fall, I'll be there to catch you_.

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><p>When Reid woke up in the morning, feelings of confusion immediately washed over him. This was incredibly frustrating for him; he was a genius with an eidetic memory. He was never confused. But here he was, lying under a blanket on top of his bed, still fully clothed, with Morgan lying next to him holding him close. And the last thing Reid remembered was talking to Morgan about seeing <em>her<em>, and being on the _couch_. How on earth did he get to the bed?

Reid kissed Morgan gently on the forehead, waking him up. "It's morning," he whispered. "We have to go to work."

Morgan's eyelids fluttered open and he blinked a few times, before his eyes focused on Reid. "Hey," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"Better," Reid admitted truthfully. "I mean, I still don't know if I believe that I'm not seeing things, that I'm not going crazy. But I do feel better. What you said last night helped. Really."

Morgan reached out and rested a hand on Reid's cheek. "I meant every word I said, you know. You. Are. Not. _Crazy_."

"Hmm," was all Reid said, turning away from Morgan and getting off the bed. "I think I'm _starting_ to believe you."

Morgan came up behind Reid and wrapped his arms around him. "Then I'm going to keep telling you that until you do believe me."

Reid smiled, not moving from Morgan's arms. "I saw her again last night," he said. "When I arrived here. But when you told me that I wasn't going crazy, that got me thinking- I haven't seen her at the FBI once. And if I _was_ just seeing things, wouldn't I have seen her there?"

"You have a point there, kid," Morgan agreed. "There is no way she'd go near the Bureau. Not after the way she left."

Reid could tell by the tone in Morgan's voice that he still harboured some bitter feelings towards the woman, and he could hardly blame him. She hadn't exactly left in the best way, and unlike Reid, Morgan had no idea what it must have been like for her.

"I think you left a spare set of clothes here the last time, Derek," Reid announced when he finally decided to move from his place in Morgan's arms. "I mean, if you don't wanna wear the same clothes you wore all day yesterday _and_ slept in to work."

Morgan laughed. "Okay, kid," he said. "I'll get changed. And I'm gonna do it right here in front of you too."

"You do that," said Reid. "But I'm not gonna watch."

Morgan laughed again as he found his change of clothes and began getting dressed. "Are you sure about that, pretty boy?" he purred in the most seductive voice he could manage.

Facing away from Morgan, Reid nodded, but Morgan could tell the younger man was struggling not to turn around. He was changing his own clothes quickly, but with clumsiness that surpassed what he usually had.

"Are you dressed, Derek?" Reid asked when he'd finally finished changing himself.

"Of course I am," Morgan replied with exaggerated innocence. "What kind of guy do you take me for?"

"_Derek_," Reid said warningly.

Yet again, laughter bubbled from Morgan's mouth. "Yes, Spencer, I am fully clothed. You can turn around now."

Reid slowly turned around, one hand partially covering his eyes. Once he was sure that Morgan was in fact fully clothed, he removed his hand and smiled sheepishly at his lover. "You're too distracting in the mornings, you know that?"

"Of course I know," said Morgan, taking the opportunity to cross the room to Reid. "I kinda do that on purpose."

"I figured," said Reid, snaking his arms around Morgan's waist and pulling him close, planting a kiss on his lips.

"I thought you _didn't_ want to do anything this morning," Morgan reminded Reid, but with a joking tone to his voice.

"I never actually said that," Reid pointed out. "All I said was get dressed. I never said what I wanted to do _after_ we were dressed."

Morgan raised an eyebrow at Reid, but the genius did nothing but give him a seductive smile. _Oh, pretty boy…_ Morgan thought to himself. _My god, how much you have changed in three months._ "We do have work today, Spencer," said Morgan.

"If you're trying to be me, it's not working," Reid said, lightly trailing his fingers along Morgan's chest, up his neck and onto his face. Morgan shivered at the genius's touch, wondering how on earth Reid could elicit that kind of reaction in him every time.

Reid gave Morgan one last lingering kiss before pulling away. "But you're right," he said. "We do have work today."

Morgan tried to pull Reid back, but the younger man wasn't having any of it now. "You're a tease, you know that?" he complained, but with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"That's your fault Derek, and you know it," Reid replied with the same joking air. "I wasn't like that at all until you came along and changed me."

"Changed you for the better," Morgan clarified. "You're still the same Doctor Spencer Reid the entire team knows and loves. But at the same time, you're different. In the best possible way."

Reid just stared at Morgan. The joking air had disappeared, replaced with a much more serious and intimate one. Reid knew he had changed since he'd been with Morgan; he just hadn't realised it had been so noticeable. "I've never seen you so happy, pretty boy," said Morgan.

"I've never _been_ so happy, Derek," said Reid. "And you're the reason for that." He smiled, and gave Morgan one last short, chaste kiss before breaking away again. "Let's go."

Reid and Morgan headed out the front door and towards their cars. Reid was about to lean in towards Morgan again, when he caught another flash of _her_. Again. "Derek," Reid whispered. "It's her." Morgan didn't reply; his focus was somewhere else entirely. "Derek?" Reid repeated, confused when he didn't get an answer. He turned around to see his boyfriend staring straight ahead, with a look of complete and utter shock on his face. "Derek, what is it?"

"I- I see her, Spencer," Morgan stammered. "I _saw_ her. She was there."

"You did?" said Reid, unable to suppress the hope burgeoning in his chest. Did this mean he definitely wasn't going crazy?

"I did," Morgan confirmed. And then he said her name. "Elle."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So now we know who Reid has being seeing everywhere- Elle is back! (This means, RoseLaurel, that you were exactly right!) I wonder what she'd say to the team, when she saw them face to face? And how is this gonna affect Morgan and Reid?  
>Oh, and can't Morgan just be so sweet sometimes? He knows just how to make Reid happy- I want him for myself! :P<br>**

**Note from Diamond Cobra:"I have no idea what happened when Elle left...So this chapter confuses me a little. I'll soon find out I guess. Oh, and for those who requested the Dominant!Reid scene, its up on my profile. (I notice a few of you already found it, and thank you for the reviews it made my day =3)" **

**Reviews make my day too! Please? :P**


	3. To Tell or Not To Tell

**A/N: So it's time for another chapter once again! So now that Reid AND Morgan have seen Elle, what are they going to do? Are they going to tell the team? Guess you'll just have to read and find out! :P**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

* * *

><p>Reid stared at Morgan, still not quite able to believe what he had said. "You... you saw her?" he spluttered. "Are you sure?"<p>

Morgan nodded. "Dead sure," he replied. "I mean she's not there anymore, but it was definitely her."

"So does this mean I'm not going crazy?" Reid asked hopefully.

Morgan placed a gentle hand on the side of Reid's face. "You were never going crazy," he said. "But yes, it does mean that."

"So what're we going to do?" said Reid. "Elle's gotta be back for a reason. She wouldn't just come back- not after the way she left."

"I don't know that there's anything we _can_ do, Spence," Morgan admitted. "We've only seen glimpses of her, and we haven't actually talked to her. We don't know where she's staying, either. I think the only thing we can do is wait for her to come to us."

"Hmm." Reid thought for a second, placing a hand over the one that Morgan was resting on his face, and pulling it down to his side, his fingers grasping the other man's tightly, a slight act of reassurance. "Do you... do you think we should tell the team?" he asked finally.

Morgan opened his mouth immediately, but closed it again when he realised he didn't really have an answer. "I don't know," he replied. "I mean, I don't think it's something we should really keep secret from them. I just don't know whether all of them would be very happy to see her."

"Why wouldn't they want to see her?" said Reid, confused.

"Well Garcia probably would be happy; that's just who she is," said Morgan. "JJ would be glad Elle was okay, but I don't know whether she'd be _happy_ to see her- Elle never gave us a real chance to say goodbye, and I don't know whether JJ's gotten over that. Hotch, however... I don't know whether he'd welcome the fact that Elle was back in town. He was sad when she left, but I don't think he's ever forgiven what he thinks she did, what she did do. And Prentiss and Rossi... they never met Elle. They don't know what she's like as a person; all they have to judge her on is her actions. They could be indifferent, but they may not like her very much. I just can't judge."

"And what about you?" Reid prompted. "How do you feel about Elle being back?"

"I... I don't know," Morgan confessed. "I missed her, and I was sad when she left... but I still don't know how I feel about what she did. I guess I'll just have to wait until I see her face to face."

Reid nodded in acceptance of Morgan's words."That makes sense..." he mused, and Morgan knew that Reid was thinking about his own feelings. Now that he knew he wasn't going crazy, he could finally think on the effects of the woman's return, he could finally sort out how he felt. "We should really get to work," he said finally.

Morgan blinked a few times, as if he was bringing himself back to reality. "Oh, yeah," he said. When Reid began to walk towards his own car, Morgan caught his hand to stop him. "Ride in with me," he said.

"But... but we have to keep up appearances for the FBI and for Strauss, remember?" said Reid.

"If anyone asks, we can just say your car broke down, so I drove you in," Morgan suggested. "That thing is so old, anyway, it won't really come as a surprise to anyone." The last sentence was clearly a joke, although there was a grain of truth to it, and he was unable to keep a smile from creeping onto his face.

"Derek!" Reid exclaimed, slapping Morgan lightly on the arm. But then a smile identical to Morgan's crept onto Reid's face. "Despite the fact that you just made fun of my car- which still works perfectly fine, by the way- I would be glad to ride in with you."

Morgan's smile grew wider, as he pulled Reid closed and pressed a kiss to his lips. Reid kissed him back for a few moments before breaking away. "We really have to leave, Derek. We're gonna be late," he reminded Morgan.

"Let's go then." Morgan led Reid towards his car, opening the door for him before going over to the driver's side and climbing in.

They drove in silence for a while, both of them dwelling on thoughts of Elle, before Morgan finally spoke. "Hey, pretty boy? Can I ask you a question?" he said.

"Yeah..." Reid replied. "What is it?"

"I was just wondering... I know that we can't really, because of the FBI's anti-fraternisation policy, but- you would live with me if you could, wouldn't you?" Morgan asked.

"Yes," Reid replied straight away.

"You didn't think about that answer," Morgan observed.

"That's because I don't _need_ to think about the answer," said Reid. "The day _will_ come when we are able to live together permanently. And when you ask me, my answer will always be yes."

Morgan was touched by Reid's words. "Thanks, Spencer," he whispered. "I love you."

"I love you too Derek," said Reid with a smile. As soon as Reid looked away, Morgan reached over and rested a hand on his leg. Reid managed to ignore it at first, but Morgan's hand moved further and further up Reid's thigh until it was almost resting in Reid's lap. Reid's breathing hitched, and he found himself sincerely glad that he wasn't driving- and wondering how Morgan could still concentrate on the road.

"Derek..." Reid hissed warningly.

Morgan smirked at him. "Something wrong, pretty boy?" he teased.

"You're driving, Derek!" Reid exclaimed.

"And?" said Morgan. "I can drive and do this at the same time." He moved his hand again, until it was hovering tantalisingly over Reid's crotch.

Reid was unable to stop himself from letting out a small whimper. He was so, _so _tempted... He looked out the window, and was both relieved and disappointed when he saw the FBI building come into view. "We're about to drive into the FBI car park, Derek," Reid managed to get out in a breathy voice. "If... if you do anything, we're gonna get caught."

Morgan sighed and reluctantly withdrew his hand, replacing it on the steering wheel. "You win then, pretty boy," he said. "But as soon as we get back to my place after work..."

Reid gulped, knowing Morgan would stick to his promise- as soon as they were at Morgan's house, the older man would be all over him. But if he was honest with himself, he was secretly very much looking forward to when they got back to Morgan's after work- he always was. Like Morgan, Reid could barely stand being at work, when they couldn't so much as give each other loving looks or hold hands. So when they were finally alone, their longing for each other broke free.

When Morgan and Reid walked into the bullpen, Prentiss immediately looked up from her paperwork. She had been worried about Reid the day before, and Morgan knew that she was going to ask questions.

Prentiss waited until Reid and Morgan had sat down at their desks before speaking. "Reid, are you okay?" she asked. "You seemed a bit... off yesterday."

"I'm fine now," said Reid. "I- I thought something was wrong, but everything's fine. I guess it was just a false alarm."

"Are you sure?" said Prentiss.

"He's most definitely fine," said Morgan lecherously.

While Prentiss made exaggerated gagging noises, a thought suddenly struck Reid. "Hey, Derek..." he said. "I have a question. How on earth did I manage to get from the couch to my bed?"

"I didn't want to wake you, Spencer, so I carried you in there," Morgan replied.

Prentiss struggled not to laugh at Morgan's words, while Reid stared at the man in shock, feeling the heat on his face that signified his embarrassment. "You... you _carried_ me?" Reid repeated.

"You were sleeping, pretty boy," Morgan defended. "And after... after how you had been before that, I didn't want to wake you. You needed your sleep."

"I can't believe he carried you," said Prentiss, still fighting to hold her laughter in. "You're like a regular damsel in distress, Reid."

"I am not a damsel in distress!" Reid protested. "I was just... in a bad way before I talked to Derek last night, that's all. I don't blame him for letting me sleep." He turned back to face Morgan. "And besides, at least in meant I was in your arms. _That_ I don't mind."

Morgan smiled at Reid, glad the conversation had changed to that joking air. "You know I'll have you in my arms whenever you want to be, pretty boy."

"I've gotta admit, that was kinda cute," said Prentiss with a small smile on her face. "Now get some work done."

Morgan did as Prentiss asked, but Reid looked around the bullpen, realising that someone was missing. "Where's JJ?" he asked with a frown.

"She's not in yet," Prentiss answered. "She is coming later, but she's rather sick. Hotch is trying to call in some help."

"Who?" said Morgan curiously.

"Agent Todd, actually," said Prentiss.

"Agent Todd?" Morgan repeated, surprised. "I wouldn't think that she'd want to come back. She said so herself that she couldn't handle this job."

"That's what I thought too," Prentiss admitted. "But Hotch says she's the best option we've got."

"She is the best option," Reid agreed. "But that's one more person we're going to have to hide our relationship from, Derek."

Morgan sighed. "I didn't think about that," he said. "At least it won't be for very long. Just until JJ gets better, right?"

Prentiss nodded. "It'll just be like when only JJ and Garcia knew about you guys," she said.

"And that was one of the hardest things I've ever done," said Morgan, Reid nodding emphatically in agreement. "It's going to be tough trying to do it again."

"Are you sure you don't want to just tell her?" Prentiss suggested.

"No," Reid answered almost instantly. "I just... I don't know how she'll react. I know we know her, but we don't know for sure that she won't tell anyone else."

Morgan knew there was a ring of truth to Reid's words, but he also knew that Reid didn't want to worry about telling Jordan Todd their secret when he was too busy dwelling on what to do about Elle.

With none of them knowing what else to say, the three agents worked on their paperwork in silence for a while, each of them dwelling on their own thoughts. Both Morgan and Reid were thinking about whether they should tell Jordan their secret and what to do about Elle (albeit both of them having different opinions), while Prentiss was still a little bit worried about Reid. They were all distracted from their internal musings, however, when Hotch came out of his office and walked towards them.

"I'm assuming Prentiss has told you about our situation with JJ," he said to Reid and Morgan.

Both men nodded. "Did you get on to Agent Todd?" Morgan asked.

"I did," Hotch replied. "And while she was rather reluctant, she has agreed to help us out while JJ is unwell. Of course, JJ will still be here with us, just in a limited capacity."

"When is she getting here?" Reid asked. "Agent Todd, I mean."

"She'll be here in about an hour or so," said Hotch. "She's picking up JJ on the way." He cleared his throat, telling the three agents that he wanted to say something else. "Reid, Morgan... have you thought about what you're going to tell Agent Todd?" He didn't need to say exactly what he was talking about; they all knew.

"We aren't going to tell her anything," said Morgan. "Spencer and I talked about it, and we feel that it would be best not to tell her."

"I respect your decision," Hotch informed the couple, "but may I ask _why_ you're not telling her?"

"We... we don't really feel ready to tell her, Hotch," Reid answered. "We may tell her sometime down the track; I don't really know. But for now, we feel it's best to keep us a secret. And besides, we don't know whether she might tell somebody and expose us."

Hotch nodded in acceptance of Reid's words. "Well if you're not to tell her then, you have to be careful," he warned them. "You can't say or do anything in front of her that may make her suspicious."

Morgan sighed loudly. "That's the only real downside to this," he said. "After we told you and the rest of the team, we didn't have to hide with you. Now we do."

"It won't be for long," Prentiss reminded him. "Then you can go back to cuddling on the jet and stuff."

* * *

><p>A little bit over an hour later, Agent Jordan Todd finally walked into the bullpen, closely followed by a pale and weak looking JJ. Reid and Morgan sprang apart from where they had had their heads bent together, talking in hushed tones. Luckily, Jordan hadn't noticed.<p>

"Hey, guys," JJ said in a slightly hoarse voice. "You remember Jordan Todd, right?"

"Yeah," said Prentiss, standing up and shaking Jordan's hand. "Welcome back."

"Yeah, hey Jordan," said Morgan, also shaking Jordan's hand while Reid gave her a small wave. "Welcome back to the BAU."

"I'm not really sure if I'm glad to be back," Jordan admitted. "But it's good to see you all again." She gave Morgan a small smile, but he didn't notice.

"I for one am glad you're back," said JJ. "I could really use your help right now."

"Why did you come in, anyway?" Reid asked JJ, concerned. "You really don't look well at all."

"I'm not so sick that I can't work at all, Spence," said JJ. "It's just I can't perform all of my duties- that's why Jordan is here. And besides, would you stay home if _you_ were sick?"

Reid didn't answer, but JJ, Prentiss and Morgan knew that his answer would definitely have been no. "You know you wouldn't, pret- I mean, Reid," said Morgan. "Don't knock JJ for being just as dedicated as you, okay?"

Jordan looked a little confused by Morgan's slip-up, almost calling Reid 'pretty boy', but she didn't mention it. "Shall we get to it, then?" she said.

"Of course!" said JJ, quickly regretting her enthusiasm, as a harsh cough followed her exclamation. "You remember where my office is, right?" she continued, after her throat had cleared. The two women walked away towards JJ's office, leaving the other three agents alone.

Morgan sighed and leaned back in his chair. "You almost slipped up just then," Reid pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," Morgan replied. "This is gonna be harder than I thought- and I already knew it would be difficult."

"It won't be for very long," Reid reminded him, almost soothingly."And you think it's gonna be hard for you? I can't lie convincingly, remember?"

"Touché, kid," Morgan agreed. "But you know how hard it is for me to keep my hands off..."

Reid sighed and shook his head, turning back to his paperwork before he could say anything else. "You owe me, pretty boy," Morgan whispered lecherously before turning to face his own desk. Prentiss just laughed and shook her head, amazed at how the two men- especially Morgan- were able to keep this secret at all.

A short time later, the entire team was gathered in the conference room. Thankfully they didn't have a case, but Hotch still had a few things to discuss with them.

"As I'm pretty sure all of you know by now, JJ isn't feeling as well as she'd like and is therefore not able to perform all of her duties," Hotch began. "Therefore, we have called Agent Jordan Todd back in to help out until JJ has recovered. I'm sure you all remember her."

Hotch gestured towards the dark-skinned woman sitting on one side of JJ. She offered the team a small smile and a wave, and they all smiled back at her.

As the conversation drifted further into work territory, Morgan kept turning to glance at Reid. As soon as Reid noticed and their eyes met, they looked away so as not to draw attention to themselves.

"I guess that's it then," said Hotch finally, bringing an end to their discussion. "Any questions? Anyone got anything else to add?"

"I'm sure Derek wants-" Garcia began, before Reid shook his head vehemently and Morgan mouthed the word "no" and jerked his head towards Jordan, who looked rather perplexed. It was starting to become obvious to her now: the team was hiding something from her.

"Is something going on?" Jordan asked.

Panic flashed on the faces of most of the team, but it vanished almost instantly. "Wh-what do you mean?" Reid stammered, fighting hard to keep calm.

"It just seems like you're keeping something from me," said Jordan. "I mean, I know I'm not a real member of this team, and I've only been here for a few hours, but I've seen it. I may not be a profiler, but I am an FBI agent."

No one on the team knew what to say. Jordan was right in saying that they were keeping something from her, but Reid and Morgan had made the decision to not tell her about their relationship. The team had to respect that.

"You have nothing to worry about, Jordan," said Morgan suddenly, an effortless smile appearing on his face. "There's no big conspiracy going on here or anything like that."

Jordan didn't look like she believed him, but his relaxed attitude had placated her a little bit. Morgan wouldn't be so calm if something was wrong. And besides, Jordan had always liked strong Derek Morgan.

Reid and Morgan, however, had realised that Jordan wasn't completely convinced. She was a good agent; she wasn't going to let this go. The two of them had to find a distraction- and they had the perfect one. But was revealing who they had seen a good idea?

Judging by the expression on Jordan's face, Reid and Morgan had no choice. They exchanged glances, and Reid nodded at his lover to speak; they needed to tell everyone.

"Actually, we do have something to tell you," Morgan announced. The team looked at them, rather shocked at Morgan's apparent change of heart. "Not just Jordan," he clarified. "All of you."

The team looked rather confused now. What on earth did Morgan and Reid need to tell them that they could say in front of Jordan?

Morgan took a deep breath. "It's, well… we've seen someone," Morgan began. "Someone we thought we'd never see again."

Reid looked over at Morgan, and then focused his gaze back on the team. "It's Elle," he said. "She's back."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So they did decide to tell the others about Elle- but their hands were kinda forced, huh? Cos Agent Todd is back, and Reid and Morgan are so used now to not hiding around the team, she's starting to get suspicious... she's going to throw a spanner in the works, I think! I just wonder exactly what's gonna happen and whether she finds out about Reid and Morgan's relationship... :P Oh, and how do you reckon the team's gonna feel about Elle being back?**

**Note from Diamond Cobra: ****"So, I now understand why Elle left, I've actually watched that far now. Good chapter right? I liked it anyways =3. ****You know I actually don't have anymore to say...that's kinda sad actually."**

**You guys know the drill... time to review! :D**


	4. What Do We Do About Them?

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took a little longer than usual guys, but I had a little writer's block and one stage and my grandma had a few health issues, but it's all good now! So now the team's reactions to hearing about Elle, and a few other surprises thrown in there! :P Read and enjoy!**

**Oh, and I have also posted a oneshot called _Realising That I Love You_. It's Reid/Morgan slash, but it is unrelated to my series. Check it out if you like!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

* * *

><p>Every single member of the team was stunned into complete and utter silence. Whatever they had been expecting Reid and Morgan to say, it wasn't that. Even Prentiss and Rossi, as well as Jordan, who had never met Elle, were surprised. They had, of course, been informed of the circumstances surrounding the former agent's departure, however, no one had ever expected her to return to DC.<p>

Hotch, as always, was the first one to find his voice. "When did you see her?" he asked.

"The night after we got back from our last case," Reid answered. "Two days ago. I went to go get dinner, and I saw her when I was getting back into my car. Then I saw her again when I got back to my apartment, and again when I left for work the next morning… I've seen her pretty much everywhere except here."

"So that's why you were acting so weird yesterday!" Prentiss realised.

Reid nodded. "I was seeing her everywhere, and I thought that there was no way she'd actually come back," he added. "I thought I was going crazy."

The team, knowing that one of Reid's greatest fears was developing schizophrenia like his mother, knew how hard this must have been for him. All of them realised how worried he must have been, and instantly felt bad that they couldn't have been there for him and that they hadn't tried harder to discover the cause of his odd behaviour.

"But then I saw her this morning," Morgan cut in, seeing the lingering fear on Reid's face. "Which was when we realised that she really was back for real."

"Do we know why she's back?" JJ asked cautiously.

Reid shook his head. "No," he replied. "All we know is that she _is_ back and she's here in DC, for the first time since she left."

"I'm assuming you were with Reid when you saw Elle this morning?" said Hotch to Morgan.

Morgan nodded. "I drove Reid in today. His car broke down," Morgan explained. Reid scowled, as he always did when someone bad-mouthed his car.

"Then why is it only Reid that Elle has chosen to follow around?" said Rossi. "Why him, and no one else in the team except when they're with him?"

"I don't know," Reid admitted. "Maybe because I was the one who went to talk to her before, who tried to help her? I don't know." Reid looked down at his hands, turning the puzzle over in his mind. Why was Elle choosing to follow him around?

"Do we know where she's staying?" Hotch asked, but Reid shook his head.

"I could look her up," Garcia suggested, "but Elle is smart. She's a former FBI profiler, and she knows us. She wouldn't use her real name."

"Like I said to Reid, I think we need to just wait Elle out. Wait until she comes to us," Morgan said. "We'd be wasting time and energy looking for her, when she isn't going to want to be found until she is ready. We don't really have a choice except for letting her come to us."

"Can I say something?" Jordan spoke up suddenly. "I think Agent Morgan's right. You need to wait her out- you need to focus your time on the cases we're given, rather than finding Elle. From what I've been told about her, she won't want you to find her yet. She's going to want to come to you on her own terms. And I think... I think you need this time, before she does appear, to think about what you really feel about her, about her being back in DC. That's what I think, anyway."

The team was silent for a while, thinking over Jordan's words. Those that had been in the BAU when Elle had left, and actually knew the woman, had felt a range of emotions following her departure. Prentiss, Rossi and Jordan, who had never met Elle, didn't know what to think. Jordan was right; they really needed to consider this and analyse all their thoughts and feelings. Hopefully that way no one would make a rash decision when the woman did show herself and jeopardise all chances of finding out why she was back.

As they were musing over this, Hotch's cell phone began to ring. He pulled it out and studied the screen with a confused expression, not recognising the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Hotch?" said a voice. Hotch's heart almost stopped, which never happened to him. He never thought he'd hear that voice again. Never. It was even more unlikely than Elle returning- but now they had both happened.

With the eyes of every team member on him, Hotch rose from his seat and left the meeting room. "Why are you calling me?"

"I... I'm back in town," said the voice, a male. "I never, ever thought I'd be back, but I... I just can't stay away anymore. I just have so many regrets, in regards to the team... I should never have left like I did."

"No, you shouldn't have," Hotch agreed. "Did you even think about how that would affect us?"

"I did, Hotch, constantly," he said. "Every day. But I just-" The man broke off and Hotch head him take a steadying breath. "I just couldn't do it anymore."The man paused once more, as if trying to gauge the stoic agent's reaction, then sighed when he received no signs. "You still haven't said my name."

"I'm in the office," Hotch explained. "Any one on the team could hear me talking to you."

"How are the team?" he asked.

Hotch hesitated. "I don't think I should really answer that question. That should be their choice whether they want you to know how they're doing."

"So you can't tell me anything?"

"All I can tell you is that things have changed," said Hotch. "Especially Reid."

"Reid..." the man sighed once more. "I want to come and visit you all."

"I- I don't think that's a good idea," said Hotch. "That would throw a spanner into the works that they don't really need right now." He looked back to the meeting room, whether the others had resumed their discussion about Elle. "I've gotta go."

The man let out a deep breath. "I should never have left the team. And I especially shouldn't have left Reid." He paused for a moment. "Call me if you change your mind."

"I will," said Hotch. "Goodbye, Gideon."

The team stopped talking as soon as Hotch walked back into the room. "Who was on the phone?" Reid asked.

"It's not important," said Hotch quickly, waving the query off. "I think we need to stop talking about Elle now, and get back to work. There's nothing we can do about it at this moment in time, so we need to stop dwelling on it."

Whether the team agreed or disagreed with Hotch's words, none of them vocalised their point of view. They rose to their feet, filing out of the room and heading towards their desks. The last three to leave the room were Morgan, Jordan and Reid, and as they walked out together Jordan spoke up.

"So, Derek, I haven't seen you in a while," she said. "How've you been?" There was a tone of something else in her voice, but neither of the male agents could quite place it.

"You know, pretty good," Morgan answered. "Had a few recent developments in my life, but they were good ones."

"Oh, what were they?" Jordan asked. She moved even closer to Morgan, resting a hand on his arm and smiling at him. Suddenly both Morgan and Reid realised what she was doing: she was flirting with him.

Morgan stepped away from Jordan, and Reid had a rather uncomfortable expression on his face, not liking this situation in the least. "Jordan," said Morgan. "I know we flirted the last time we were here, and I did enjoy that, but that's in my past now. I don't do that anymore."

"Why not?" said Jordan, that slightly seductive tone still in her voice. "We wouldn't be hurting anyone, Derek..."

"Yes we would," Morgan told her shortly. "I'm sorry, but do not flirt with me." And with that he walked off, Reid following behind him quickly, relief flowing through him. Yes he trusted the other man and knew he would never cheat, but he had always held a slight fear that the former womaniser would be unable to resist flirting, it had been an almost subconscious action for the agent before. Jordan watched the two walk away with a very confused expression on her face. What on earth was going on here?

"I'm sorry, pretty boy," Morgan whispered to Reid once they were out of Jordan's earshot.

"It's not your fault," Reid whispered back instantly. "You didn't know that she was going to flirt with you, you couldn't have prevented her from doing that. And you told her to stop flirting with you, which was all I could've asked you to do."

Morgan smiled. "Ah, Spence," he sighed affectionately. "Always my champion." Reid smiled back at him, and the two agents headed towards their desks to work on their paperwork again.

Neither agent noticed Jordan emerge from the meeting room and head towards where Hotch and JJ were standing outside JJ's office, talking. "Hey, Jordan!" said JJ brightly, if a little weakly. "You ready to get back to work?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Jordan's voice trailed off, and she thought for a moment, wondering what she should do. "Say, I… well, is something going on between Dr Reid and Agent Morgan?" she asked.

JJ and Hotch looked between each other quickly, before looking back at Jordan. "Spence and Morgan?" JJ repeated. "Why do you say that?"

"Because both of them have been acting really weird since I got back here," Jordan replied. "I can see that they're hiding something, you know."

Both Hotch and JJ looked rather uncomfortable. "I… I don't really think that's for us to tell you, Agent Todd," Hotch said finally. "Yes, you're right. Reid and Morgan do have a secret. It's nothing that's bad, but it's _their_ secret to tell. You can't pressure them into this- especially Reid. He's not one to tell people his secrets easily. You need to wait him and Morgan to tell you when they are ready."

Jordan nodded, feeling slightly abashed. "I understand, Agent Hotchner," she said. She looked back at JJ. "Could we get to work now?"

"Of course," said JJ. "Come with me." She led Jordan into her office, throwing Hotch a brief glance over her shoulder.

Hotch stood there for a moment, and then looked down into the bullpen where Reid and Morgan were sitting at their desk. Prentiss, luckily, was away talking to Garcia in the technical analyst's office, so Hotch walked over to his two male agents.

"Morgan, Reid?" Hotch said to get their attention. Both of them looked up rather suddenly, looking for some reason as though they were stunned he was there. "I need to talk to you about Agent Todd," he said. "What exactly happened?"

"I, well I-" Reid spluttered, having no idea what to say to his boss.

"She tried flirting with me," Morgan explained. "And I turned her down instantly, told her to stop. Last time she was here, I was perfectly open to that. It was bound to raise her suspicions."

"Well it definitely has," Hotch told them. "She just asked me what was going on between you two."

"Wh-what did you tell her?" Reid stammered anxiously.

"You don't need to worry, Reid," said Hotch. "I just told her that the secret was yours to tell. She knows there's something going on now, just not _what_."

Morgan sighed. "Thanks for doing that, Hotch," he said. "And thanks for telling us."

"If you need to talk in private, you can use my office," Hotch suggested. "Jordan's in with JJ anyway; she won't see you go in there."

Morgan looked over at Reid, who nodded in agreement. "Alright, Hotch, we'll do that," said Morgan, and he and Reid rose from their seats.

As soon as he'd closed and locked Hotch's door behind them, Morgan turned to face Reid. "We really need to talk about this," Morgan said.

Reid sighed. "Yeah, I know," he said, looking anywhere but at Morgan.

"Hey, pretty boy," said Morgan, stepping closer to the young genius and pulling his chin up with one hand. "What's worrying you?"

Reid remained silent at first, but Morgan stared into his eyes until he couldn't keep quiet anymore. "Jordan," he admitted. "I mean, she's a very good agent, Derek, and I do like her. But that kinda makes things worse."

Morgan looked a little confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Because I'm worried about how she'll react when we tell her about us," Reid answered. "I think I agree with Hotch, that we need to tell her, but the fact that I know her quite well and I do count her as a friend makes it that much harder. I mean, we were lucky with the team, how they reacted. I just feel that our luck may run out with Jordan."

"Oh, Spencer…" Morgan wanted to assure Reid that he had nothing to worry about, but he knew he couldn't do that. He couldn't just assume that Jordan would have a positive reaction about his and Reid's relationship. He couldn't make up her mind for her. "We do have to tell her though," Morgan added.

"How are we going to do that?" Reid asked. "It's not an easy thing to tell people. You said so yourself, when you were telling me why you haven't told your family about us. And you remember how hard it was for us to tell the team. I had never been more nervous in my life than I had at that moment, and I know you were nervous as well. Don't try to deny it," Reid added when Morgan made a face. "I know it was true."

"Yeah, alright, it was," Morgan admitted and Reid smiled triumphantly. "But that was the team. Our family. Yes, Jordan is our friend, but she isn't going to be here for very long. She isn't a big a part of our lives like the others are. And after this time, we might never see her again."

"Doesn't mean I'm not worried about her reaction," Reid retorted. Morgan had opened his mouth to speak again, but closed it when he realised it wouldn't abate Reid's fears.

"Pretty boy," said Morgan, trying to grab Reid's attention. When Reid looked up at him again, Morgan pulled the younger man into his arms and held him close. "You and I both know from experience- the only way to stop worrying about telling someone about us is to actually tell them about us."

"That didn't make any sense," said Reid, in the slightly frustrated voice he gained when he didn't understand something.

Morgan laughed, glad to see the Reid that he knew and loved. "What I meant was, we need to tell Jordan about us, so we can stop worrying," he clarified.

Reid just frowned at Morgan. "That doesn't make it any easier to tell her," he argued.

"You know, you're making it awfully hard for me to resist kissing that frown off your face," Morgan told Reid.

A flicker of something flashed upon Reid's face, and then his expression was unreadable. "Then don't resist," Reid suggested.

The young genius didn't have to tell him twice. Morgan leaned into the younger man and kissed him tenderly but not too passionately so he could actually bear to end the kiss- although that was always slightly hard to manage, it was far easier when he wasn't turned on too much. Indeed, it was several moments before the two of them did break apart, remaining curled in each other's arms.

"I really needed that," Reid admitted after a moment's silence, his voice muffled slightly as his face was nuzzled into the other man's shoulder. "It kind of… reassured me."

"What on earth could you need to be reassured about?" Morgan asked, nonplussed.

"That you love me. Not that I doubted it at all," Reid added quickly when Morgan started speaking. "It's just… nice and comforting to hear, feel or see it every now and then."

"Then I'll make sure that I show you as often as I can how much I love you," Morgan said. "Like right now. I love you more than anything else in the world, Spencer Reid. You are my life now, and how Jordan reacts when we tell her about us isn't going to change that."

"I love you too, Derek," said Reid. "And thank you. Really."

"You don't need to thank me, Spencer," said Morgan. "Loving you, telling you that, showing you that… it's as easy as breathing now for me."

"Derek…" Reid bent his head down, resting it on Morgan's shoulder. "You know, I could just stand here like this forever. Forget about everything else, not worrying about telling anyone about us…"

Morgan smiled, letting a chuckle escape from his lips. "Maybe we'll do just that, pretty boy," he whispered into Reid's ear, his voice not seductive, he wasn't expecting anything from this encounter, but soft and affectionate, deliberately soothing and comforting for the more hesitant man. The two of them stood there like that for a while, forgetting about Jordan and even about Elle, neither of them inclined to move, but a knock on the office door intruded on their peaceful moment.

"Morgan, Reid!" Hotch's voice called out. "We have work to do! And I need my office!" Hotch didn't need to add anything else for the couple to know that now was the time for them to go and tell Jordan, both automatically acknowledging their mutual decision and steeling themselves for the actual moment.

"Coming Hotch!" Morgan called back. He gave Reid one last, lingering squeeze before pulling away. "Let's go, pretty boy. Time to tell Jordan about us."

Reid swallowed, feeling rather anxious, but nodded to Morgan nonetheless. "Let's go," he agreed, giving Morgan a nervous but resolute smile before leaving Hotch's office, his lover following closely behind him.

**A/N: I've said this like every time, but aren't Reid and Morgan just so cute? :D And not only is Elle back, but Gideon wants to pay them a visit... hmm, that should go well... or maybe not :P And I wonder how Jordan will react to Reid and Morgan's news? And make you you check out my oneshot I mentioned above, wrote it when I had writer's block on this chapter (shameless plugging, I know... shut up :P).**

**Note from Diamond Cobra:** **"Sooo, that was all deliberatey and stuff. Good right? Everyone loves an unsure Reid. I also wonder when Eternal will use all those complicated Reid lectures/nerd talks I wrote. It was my challenge to her, wonder if she can use them all ;3"**

**Review time guys, you have no idea how good they make me feel :)**


	5. Interrupted by an Old Friend

**A/N: Writer's block really sucks, don't it? I knew the gist of what I wanted to write for this chapter, but I just couldn't make the words come out! Add that to a hell of a lot of tests counting towards my final year 12 mark and you got a lot of time between chapters. Sorry guys! But here's the next chapter, with a very big surprise for all of the team. Oh, and a little bit of angst thrown in. Read on!**

**Warning: mentions of previous drug abuse, so brief spoilers for the episodes where that's mentioned (can't remember them all).  
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**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

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><p>Reid and Morgan had fully intended to tell Jordan about their relationship as soon as they left Hotch's office. Morgan had psyched himself up, and Reid had fully steeled himself for the task. They had even stood a little to the side of JJ's office doorway for a full fifteen minutes, quietly discussing exactly <em>how<em> they would tell Jordan. But as even the best laid plans went, things didn't always go to plan.

Just as Morgan raised his hand to knock on JJ's office door, Hotch came out of his own office with his phone to his ear. He looked over at Morgan and Reid, with a frown on his face even deeper than his usual one. Catching the eyes of the two men, Hotch shook his head, telling them that now was not the time to tell Jordan. Something had happened. Something big.

Morgan and Reid stood silently, watching Hotch as he talked on the phone. His side of the conversation wasn't giving anything away, but both men could tell that whatever was going on wasn't small. Prentiss and Garcia had returned to the bullpen from the tech analyst's office, and they too were staring at Hotch in confusion.

Almost as soon as Hotch hung up the phone, Rossi, JJ and Jordan all appeared. "What's going on?" Rossi asked.

Hotch's face, if it was at all possible, was even more grave than it normally was. "There's someone downstairs who wants to see us. The BAU," he explained.

"Why are they waiting outside?" JJ asked, confused. "Why don't they just come up to the bullpen?"

"They're refusing to come into the building," Hotch replied. "And I can't say I blame them."

"Who's _they_?" Morgan asked, although he and Reid had a pretty good idea who Hotch was talking about.

Hotch hesitated for a moment, uncharacteristically unsure of what to say. "Maybe we should just go downstairs and see them," he suggested finally.

All of them thoroughly confused, the team nodded and followed Hotch into the elevator. Morgan gave Reid's hand a quick, reassuring and unseen squeeze; they both had suspicions about was coming and the reactions wouldn't necessarily be good.

Hotch led the team out of the elevator and out of the FBI building, towards a lone figure. The person was facing away from the team, but they could tell she was a woman, with brown hair down to her shoulders. She didn't turn around when the team approached, but it was clear that she'd heard them approach.

"I brought the team," Hotch said to the woman. "Whatever you want to say and whatever you want to do, now is the time to do it."

The woman let out a long sigh. "Okay, Hotch," she said. That voice, with the foreign lilt to it, was eerily familiar to Morgan, Reid, JJ and Garcia. They knew who the woman was. Even though, when the woman turned around and they saw her face, every single member of the team was shocked.

It was Elle.

No one on the team spoke; they didn't know what to say. What could they say, in a situation like this? With the exception of Prentiss, Rossi and Jordan, who had never met her, no one on the team had seen or heard from Elle in nearly three years, not since she had left the BAU. She hadn't left under the greatest of circumstances, either. None of them thought they'd ever see her again. Not one of them thought she'd ever return to DC. So why was she back?

"I can't believe it…" Garcia breathed. "Elle Greenaway. I never thought I'd see you again."

"To be honest, I never thought I'd see any of you again either, Garcia," Elle admitted. "When I left, I told myself I'd never come back here. I couldn't come back here."

"Why _are_ you back here?" Morgan asked. "And don't say you don't know. If you didn't know, you wouldn't have come back."

"You haven't changed much, Derek," Elle observed dryly.

"Actually, I've changed a lot more than you'd think, Elle," Morgan retorted, causing both Elle and Jordan to look at him in confusion. His actions and personality had changed very little and it went without saying that his looks were that same. So what was he getting at? "But seriously, why are you here?"

"I… I've come back to… try and make amends, I guess," said Elle. "I know I did wrong by you guys when I left. I want to try and fix that."

"There's a lot to fix, Elle," said Morgan, neither angry nor happy; he was conflicted, not knowing what he felt about Elle's return. On one hand, she was his friend and had been his colleague for a long time, but on the other she had left and abandoned them all and that wasn't easy to forgive.

"I know, Morgan," Elle admitted. "And I'm not under the illusion that just by walking in here, by coming back, that you're going to forgive me. I know it's going to be hard."

"We did miss you Elle," said JJ, who had been silent since they'd walked out of the building and see Elle. "You were a part of this team, this _family_. We were sad when you left."

"It looks like you've moved on though," Elle pointed out, gesturing towards where Prentiss, Rossi and Jordan were standing behind the rest of the team, none of them really wanting to intrude on what was already a tense moment.

"Agent Todd is only helping us out while JJ is ill and cannot work to her full capacity," Hotch explained, indicating Jordan. "But Agent Prentiss joined us not long after you left, and Agent Rossi replaced Gideon."

Prentiss and Rossi nodded at Elle, but neither of them spoke- they had no idea what to say. Yes, we replaced you, and the team moved on? That would've just been cruel.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group then, none of them really knowing what to do. They had all thought about how they would react and what they would say when Elle finally showed up, but when the moment had arrived all that had all flown out the window.

"Elle I- I don't know what to say," Garcia finally spoke up. "I mean, I missed you, and I'm glad to see you… but you were gone for three years. I don't know what we're supposed to do."

"So none of you are happy to see me? None of you forgive me yet?" said Elle.

"I'm happy to see you," Reid said in a small voice, shocking everyone else. "I forgive you." No one was more shocked at Reid's words than Elle and Morgan. It was typical of the genius, always managing to see the good in people, even when they may not have deserved it.

As everyone turned to look at Reid, he stepped out of the group and slowly walked towards Elle. He stopped in front of her, feeling rather unsure; this type of thing had never been easy for him, and this moment was even worse. Elle, perhaps sensing Reid's uncertainty and remembering the type of person Reid was, smiled encouragingly at him. Reid took a step closer to Elle, and hugged her, rather tentatively at first, but much more warmly when Elle returned it. "I missed you, Elle," he admitted when the two of them broke apart.

"I missed you too, Reid," said Elle. "There's no one quite like you."

No one else quite knew what to say. Out of everyone, they hadn't expected _Reid_ to have forgiven Elle so quickly or so easily. It confused all of them.

Morgan most of all.

He knew Reid better than anyone else, in _every way_, but he had never seen this coming. He had never thought that Reid would be so _welcoming_ towards Elle. Making a mental note to ask Reid about this later, Morgan moved forwards to stand beside the genius. He reached out and clasped Reid's shoulder, what looked like nothing more than a friendly gesture to anyone who didn't know the truth.

"You've got that one right, Greenaway," said Morgan, trying to put on his usual easy grin. "There is no one quite like our own genius." He ruffled Reid's hair playfully, earning a scowl from the younger man- and a warning look from Hotch. Morgan looked back at his boss, seeking advice on what to do next.

"Now that we know you're here, what do you planning on doing now, Elle?" Morgan asked.

"I… I don't really know exactly what I'm going to do ," Elle admitted. "I didn't know how you guys would react to me being here, so I couldn't exactly plan what I was going to do in advance. I did know it would take time though, so I'm gonna be sticking around for a while."

Elle studied the team properly, taking in their reactions more thoroughly. Reid she already knew was happy to see her. Garcia, being who she was, looked as genuinely happy as Reid did. Hotch looked like his usually stern self, but she could tell that he wasn't exactly pleased to see her. Jordan, only a temporary addition to the team and therefore not knowing them too well, looked like her mind was elsewhere, her lack of personal relation to Elle making the situation both awkward and uncomfortable. Prentiss and Rossi, who had never actually met Elle before (even if they had heard the stories), wore neutral expressions, like they hadn't yet formed an opinion about the woman and the situation at hand. JJ looked like she was happy to see Elle and know that she was well, but there were other differing emotions creeping onto her face, ones that Elle couldn't quite place and wasn't entirely sure she wanted to. And Morgan… well, he looked kind of conflicted. Confused. Both happy and angry at the same time.

"Well, Elle, we know how to contact you now, and we know where you are," said Hotch. "I think that maybe you should give us all some time to process this and decide how we feel, and then we'll contact you when we want to see you again." He phrased it like a suggestion, to be polite, but Elle and the team could tell that he meant it as an order.

Elle wasn't about to argue against an order from Hotch, especially since she was trying to get back in his good books. "Alright," she said. "I'll be waiting for you to contact me, then." With one last look at the team, Elle turned and walked away into the car park and out of sight.

"We should get back to work, everyone," said Hotch when nobody else moved or spoke. "You can all think on this while you're doing paperwork, okay?"

The team nodded and began to head back inside, but Morgan had other ideas. He called out Hotch's name to get his attention, and shot Reid a meaningful look when the genius turned around as well.

Hotch gestured for the others to go on ahead, and then walked back to Morgan and Reid. "I think Spencer and I need a while, Hotch," said Morgan. "We have things to discuss."

Hotch nodded to Morgan. "I can give you an hour, nothing more," he said. "Try to make it less, if you can." He turned and walked back into the building, leaving Reid feeling thoroughly confused.

"Do you wanna go get a coffee, pretty boy?" Morgan suggested. "Then we can go talk, in the park maybe."

Reid nodded, not bothering to hide the confusion he was feeling as they drove to the coffee shop a few blocks from the FBI, Reid quickly pocketing several packets of sugar as Morgan ordered their drinks. Morgan handed Reid his coffee and they walked towards the park in silence, neither of them speaking until they got there.

The two of them sat on a bench, sipping their beverages in a contemplative silence, Morgan not quite knowing how to phrase his question, Reid having little to say.

"Derek, to be honest, I have no idea why you want to talk to me right now," Reid admitted finally. "It can't be about how we're gonna tell Jordan, because we already figured that out. So what is it?" Reid mulled over it for a second. "You… you aren't breaking up with me, are you?"

"What? No!" Morgan gasped. "What would make you say that? When have I ever given you any indication that I was going to leave you?"

"Never, I just… when you said that we needed to talk, that was the only thing I could think of. It's such a common phrase, it's used in media and film all the time and it never has good connotations, it usually leads to a break up or a pregnancy. I'm guessing you're not pregnant so really break up is all I could think of," said Reid. "It's stupid, I know."

Morgan let out a small chuckle. "A little bit, yeah," he said, but at the same time he reached forward and placed a hand on Reid's cheek, in a warm and comforting gesture. "But I'm not leaving you, you know that. I'm never going to leave you."

"Yeah, I know," Reid sighed. "Just a brief moment of insecurity, I guess."

Morgan's famous, easy-going grin crossed his face again. It was so easy for Reid to get him to smile like that, especially unintentionally. "You have no idea how much you sounded like a teenage girl just then," he laughed.

Reid scowled, and blushed all the way to the roots of his hair. "Shut up, Derek," he said, but Morgan could tell that Reid understood he was only joking. "And it's only because I'm as inexperienced as most teenage girls."

"Not any more," Morgan whispered lecherously, trailing a hand lightly and teasingly up Reid thigh.

Reid swatted Morgan's hand away, looking at him in shock. "Derek, what are you doing?" he gasped. "We're in public!"

"I know, Spence," said Morgan. "I wasn't actually going to do anything. But don't say you didn't _want_ me to, baby."

"I do, but maybe when we get home, tonight, Derek," said Reid. "And why did you just call me 'baby'?"

"Because you're my boyfriend, Spence. We're in a relationship together. Sometimes, people call their significant other 'baby'," Morgan explained. "Plus I think I suits you," he added with a smile. "It's like when I call you kid, but more… affectionate. Like I'm claiming you as my own."

Reid couldn't help the incredible warmth that filled him at Morgan's words. Morgan claiming Reid as his… he liked the sound of that. "If that's the case, I don't mind it then," Reid decided with a coy smile. "But I don't have anything to call you."

Morgan laughed again. "You don't need to, Spence," he assured the younger man. "The fact that you love me and you want to be with me is all I need. But you, on the other hand… I knew you'd like it if I called you that. It's another one of the ways I show you that I love you. But you can call me baby if you want," Morgan finished with a smirk.

"Maybe," said Reid noncommittally, obviously imagining what he could call Morgan beside his name. "But what did you want to talk to be about? Hotch gave us a time limit, and we've already been here for over twenty minutes."

"Oh, yeah," Morgan realised, dragging his mind away from thoughts of exactly what he wanted to do to Reid, "I just wanted to ask you something. About Elle."

Reid looked at Morgan, nonplussed. "What could you need to ask me about?" he said, confused.

"Well, I wanted to ask you about why you were so happy to see her, so much more welcoming than the others," said Morgan. "I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, pretty boy. I understand that. I just… it confused me, that's all. I don't like having parts of you that I don't know. But you still don't have to tell me."

"No, Derek, it's okay," Reid said almost instantly. "I… I want to tell you. I trust you." _Trust_. A word Reid didn't use very often, with very many people. The fact that he was applying it to Morgan just showed how comfortable he was with the older man, how much he actually loved him. "I began thinking about this when I first saw Elle, wondering how I would react if she was actually back," Reid began. "I knew I missed her, yes. And there was still a little bit of that guilt I felt when she left, because I was the last one to talk to her before she did what she did."

"Spence, it wasn't your fault that Elle did what she did," Morgan protested. "I highly doubt that _any_ of us could've talked her out of what she was feeling."

"It's all right, Derek, I know that now," Reid assured his lover. "But this is the first time I've really thought about Elle for a while and really considered my feelings about this. That's why when I first realised I was genuinely happy about Elle being back, that I didn't harbour any ill will towards her, I was confused. At first I just thought it was because if she really was back, it meant I wasn't going crazy." Reid looked a bit ashamed at this, but before Morgan could try and comfort him Reid began speaking again. "But then when you saw her too, I realised that wasn't the case when I was still happy that she was back. It wasn't until then that I finally figured it out: I understand her. I understand why she did what she did. Well, not _exactly_ why. I don't know why she chose to _shoot_ someone. I just know why she chose to do _something_."

Morgan studied Reid, confused. "Why? How could you understand what she did?" Morgan asked.

"When you're on the other end of the case, when you're the one the UnSub has kidnapped, or shot, you feel horrible," Reid replied. You feel wrong, you feel weak, you feel like you have to prove to everyone else that you can still do your job. But more importantly, you feel like you need to do something, _anything_, to make those feelings and those memories, go away."

Morgan knew exactly what Reid was talking about now, and it made him sick to his stomach. He _hated_ remembering the time when Reid had been kidnapped, tortured and drugged, and Morgan himself not being able to do anything about it. "Pretty boy, you don't need to say any more," said Morgan quickly.

"Yes, I do," said Reid. "When she felt like that, Elle shot a suspect. When _I_ felt like that, I turned to drugs. I shot myself up _every time_ I couldn't handle the feelings and the memories, and I came to work either high or detoxing. I know that all of you knew, but I just- just couldn't bring myself to tell you. Until now."

Morgan just stared at Reid with his mouth hanging slightly open, stunned speechless by what Reid had said. Reid was right; Morgan and the rest of the team had all known about Reid's issues, and they'd all known that confronting him about it wouldn't help. But no one had ever, _ever _thought that Reid would actually _admit_ to his previous drug habit. But it had happened. He told Morgan. "Why… why are you telling me this?" Morgan finally asked. "I mean, not that I'm not so proud of you for doing so… but why me? Why now?"

"Because you deserve to know," Reid answered simply. "I know you figured it out when it actually happened, but you, more than anyone else, deserve to hear me say it. Derek, you are my boyfriend. You are the love of my life. And I trust you. I _needed_ to tell you."

"Oh, pretty boy…" Morgan whispered. Knowing the massive amount of trust in him Reid needed to tell him that, Morgan reached out and pulled the young genius into his arms, holding him as close as he possibly could, trying to show Reid without words that he loved him no matter what. "I love you so much, Spencer," Morgan whispered into his boyfriend's ear. "You have no idea how much it means that you trusted me enough to tell me what you just told me. I am so, so proud of you."

Reid rested his head on Morgan's chest. "Thanks, Der," he replied, snuggling deeper into Morgan's embrace.

It was a long moment before Morgan pulled away from Reid, sighing heavily. "We need to get back to the BAU, Spence," he said regretfully. "It's almost been an hour. And there's something we have to do when we get there. We have to tell Jordan about this, about us."

Reid looked up at Morgan, recollections of what he and Morgan had been going to do before Elle had shown up filling his mind and his nerves creeping back in. "Okay, I guess we do," he said.

"Hey, pretty boy," said Morgan, squeezing one of Reid's hands tightly. "It will be okay- _we_ will be okay, no matter how she reacts."

Reid nodded. "I know," he assured Morgan. "I also know that we have to do this."

Morgan smiled, and leaned forward and kissed Reid gently. "Don't worry, baby," he said soothingly. "It'll all be fine. Now let's go." And with one last squeeze of the genius's hand, Morgan got up from the bench and led Reid back towards the car.

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><p><strong>AN: So Elle has now shown her face to the team. I wonder what they're going to do about it? And Morgan and Reid are just being as sweet and adorable as ever :P  
>And for some reason Diamond Cobra didn't leave me a beta note... maybe because she was too busy writing her own story, which I am just about to read! Review time anyway guys, I need some love in my life after some of what I've just been through!<strong>


	6. Finally Getting the Chance

**A/N: School's a bitch, ain't it? I've done so many tests lately, and been studying so much for my midyear exams that I feel my head's gonna explode! But I finally found the time to write a new chapter, so here it is! And yes, Reid and Morgan do finally tell Jordan about their relationship in this one.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

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><p>Reid and Morgan arrived back at the BAU with seven minutes left on the hour time limit given to them by Hotch. They walked back into the office rather cautiously, trying to erase any evidence of what they had been talking about and doing previously from their expressions.<p>

When the couple had entered the bullpen properly and had a chance to look around, they realised that the only member of the team in the area was Prentiss; none of the others were anywhere to be seen.

"Hey, Prentiss!" Morgan called as he and Reid walked over to join their fellow agent. "Where are all the others?"

"Working, like I am," Prentiss replied. "Well, except Garcia- Kevin came to visit her, so she's probably distracted right now. But then, she could probably use the distraction, after Elle. The rest of us probably could too."

"Garcia did look rather happy to see Elle, though," Reid pointed out.

"My sweet cheeks is not like everybody else," said Morgan with a small smile. "She is genuinely happy to see Elle; it's just who she is. She doesn't have it in her to hold a grudge."

Prentiss smiled. "Ah, our Garcia," she said affectionately. "There's no one quite like her, is there?"

"No, there isn't," Morgan agreed. "There's nobody like our angel face; no one's as bubbly and as infectiously happy as she is."

"Hopefully her happiness can rub off on me," Reid sighed absently, sitting down at his desk and fiddling with his hands.

Prentiss studied Reid closely, a look of concern crossing her face as she cocked her head to one side. "What's wrong, Reid?" she asked. "Did something happen?"

"No, nothing's happened… yet," said Reid. "We were- we were just trying to figure out how to tell Jordan. About us."

"Ah." Prentiss didn't know what else to say; Morgan and Reid were in a situation she'd never been in, so she didn't really know how to help them. "Do you… do you know what you're going to say to her?"

Morgan shook his head. "I don't think it's something you can really plan, Emily," he said. "We tried to plan how we were going to tell you guys, and look how that turned out."

"We're just going to have to go in there and tell her," Reid added. "We don't know how she's going to react, but she has a right to know. No matter how brief, she is a part of this team." He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. "I'm still afraid of how she'll react, though."

"Don't bother telling him to relax, Prentiss," Morgan said, when the female agent opened her mouth. "That's what I was trying to do before, and I don't think it worked very well."

"I'm _trying_ to calm down, Derek," Reid retorted. "But you know me; I don't handle social situations like this very well, and I always get flustered and completely mess up what I'm going to say."

"At risk of you being mad at me for interrupting a potentially very romantic and touching moment, I'm going to have to stop you right here," said Prentiss. "Just go and tell her, right now, before you lose your nerve. Go on!"

Reid and Morgan exchanged a glance before reluctantly rising from their seats again. "She's in JJ's office," Prentiss replied to their unasked question. "JJ's in there too."

"So we're going to have to kick JJ out of her own office?" Reid groaned, a hand on his forehead. He hated doing anything that upset JJ, or that interrupted her work unnecessarily.

"Pretty boy, she'll understand," Morgan assured him. "And I'm pretty sure that after she had to help us keep the secret from the _entire team_, she'll want us to tell Jordan so she doesn't having to continue keeping it from her. So let's go."

The two men walked up the small set of stairs to JJ's office. Both female agents were hunched over JJ's desk and the stacks of files, JJ looking rather pale and clammy. Knowing that Reid wouldn't be able to do so himself his apprehension causing him to worry and his mind creating scenarios rapidly, each worse than the one preceding it, Morgan knocked on the doorframe and JJ and Jordan looked up. "JJ, Spencer and I were wondering if we could talk to Jordan alone," Morgan said. "Besides, you look like you could use a break, anyway."

JJ looked up at the couple; one man trying to be strong, the other looking rather anxious, and nodded, a small smile crossing her face. "Of course you can talk to her, guys!" she exclaimed, as brightly as she could with her scratchy and weak voice. "I think I could use a glass of water and some lozenges anyway- my throat is killing me right now." She rose from her chair. "Come and get me when you're done." And with that JJ breezed out of the office, leaving Reid and Morgan alone with the other agent.

Jordan still remained in her seat, looking up at Morgan and Reid with a puzzled expression on her face. She hoped, more than realised, that the two men were about to tell her what was going on with them. She knew it was nosy and intruding on their privacy, and for that she was sincerely sorry and guilty, but Jordan wanted to know what they were keeping from her. It was obviously pretty big- Morgan wouldn't have stopped her from flirting with him for just some small little thing. Last time she had seen him, he would flirt with any woman that moved. But what on earth could this have to do with Reid- rambling, socially awkward, genius Dr Reid? Sure, Jordan liked him well enough- he was actually a really kind and sweet guy once you got to know him, and brave too; there was more to him than facts and a massive brain. But what secret could the two men possibly share that was so big?

"Maybe you should sit," Jordan suggested, when neither man made a move to speak. "And close the door?"

Morgan closed the door, but neither he nor Reid took a seat. "I don't think I'd be able to sit still," Reid explained. "Besides, I want to be able to flee here if I embarrass myself completely, or if you don't take what we're about to say very well."

"I'm sure that won't happen, Doctor Reid," said Jordan sweetly, not knowing whether she was making a promise that she wouldn't be able to keep.

Reid seemed to share Jordan's inner sentiment. "Please don't say that before you hear us out," he pleaded her, looking over at Morgan for reassurance. That was odd- Jordan had never seen them do _that_ before.

Reid opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out besides an odd, strangled noise. He looked over at Morgan again, this time pleadingly, and the older man stepped up to help him out.

"What we're about to say, you _cannot_ repeat to anyone else," Morgan warned Jordan. "It's nothing illegal, it's nothing that _we'd_ say is wrong, but people would not be very happy about it, we think. And besides, no one other than the team knows, and we'd like to keep it that way until we're ready for people to know. We'd like to be the ones to tell people as well. Understood?"

Jordan nodded. "Absolutely," she said. "So what's going on around here that involves the two of you?"

"Should we go back to the beginning?" Morgan whispered to Reid as if Jordan wasn't there, drawing further confusion from the woman.

"Only if you think it's necessary," Reid replied. "But in my opinion…" he shook his head. "No. If she wants to know more, she can ask, but I don't think I could handle telling her any more right now."

They both turned back to Jordan, apologetic smiles on their faces. "We probably just confused you even more," said Morgan. "I'm sorry."

"Yes, you did," Jordan admitted. "But that doesn't really matter to me. What did you need to tell me? I don't mean to be rude, but I do have a lot of work to get through."

"You know what, we can come back later," said Reid suddenly. He turned to leave the room, but Morgan grabbed his arm. The gesture wasn't rough, but rather… tender.

"Spencer," Morgan whispered. "We have to do this now."

Reid looked at Morgan, and then sighed and turned back to face Jordan. "Sorry," he murmured. Jordan waved her hand to indicate that it wasn't important, and Reid had no choice but to continue. "Morgan- Derek and I, we, uh- well, we've been doing something, well, _together_ for the past two months, three weeks and four days." Reid knew that Jordan wouldn't have deduced what Reid was trying to tell her from what he had said, but he didn't know what else _to_ say. This was much too hard for him to just say straight.

Morgan seemed to have come to the same conclusion. "Pretty boy, Jordan's not going to figure anything out by what you just said," Morgan said patiently. "She already _knows_ that something's going on with us. She just doesn't know _what_."

"Maybe you should tell her then," Reid pleaded. "I don't think I can get the words out."

Morgan's expression softened. "Of course I can, kid," he said. "I know how hard this type of thing is for you." He turned to face Jordan, his expression now slightly uneasy- uncharacteristically so. "First of all, I need to tell you that there is a reason why I wouldn't let you flirt with me earlier," he began. "While it may not appear that I have changed very much since you last saw me, I have. In a rather big way."

"_Please_ stop beating around the bush, Morgan," said Jordan. "Whatever it is, just tell me."

"Alright," Morgan sighed. "The reason I wouldn't flirt with you, the thing that we've been hiding from you, is that I am in a long-term relationship. A homosexual one. With Spencer."

Jordan was rendered speechless. While there was no revulsion, anger or disgust on her face, she did look very shocked. Whatever she had expected Morgan and Reid to say, it wasn't that.

While Jordan's shock and silence hadn't really affected Morgan, it had definitely affected Reid. He was visibly hurt by Jordan's reaction, and for once in his life he had to struggle to keep his emotions in check.

"Are you serious?" Jordan finally managed to get out. "I mean, I'm not against this kind of thing, really, I'm not disgusted or anything like that, but wow… the two of you?"

Morgan nodded. "It is a little hard to believe," he said cautiously.

"Oh, it's unbelievable, all right," Jordan agreed. "How the hell did this happen? I mean, if I really thought about it, I can see Dr Reid being gay, mainly because I've never seen you with anyone and I don't know as much about your personal life, but you Derek? You're gay? With him?"

"I'm bisexual, actually," said Morgan, a little coldly. "And of course I'm with Spencer. I love him, Jordan, for everything that he is. And if you can't accept that, then-"

"Whoa, hang on a second!" Jordan interrupted. "I never said that I was against it!"

"Yes, but Derek asked you whether you can _accept_ it," Reid spoke up, in a very quiet voice. Jordan realised, with a kind of sick feeling in her heart, that her reaction to the relationship had hurt Reid. That was never what she had meant to do.

"Dr Reid," she said. "All I can say for sure is that I am in no way against your relationship. But in terms of whether I can accept your relationship, I cannot say either way. I- I think I need time to process this information. I'm sincerely sorry."

All Reid could do was nod. He believed Jordan's words, but her reaction to his relationship with Morgan had hurt Reid, so he kept his mouth closed so as not to completely betray his feelings.

"Very well," Morgan said curtly, neither upset nor angry, but not happy either. "We'll leave you alone, then, and send JJ back in." He made as if to leave the room, but he stopped again. "Like we said before, can you please not repeat what we told you to anyone? Nobody outside the team knows about us yet."

Jordan nodded. "Of course I won't, Morgan," she promised. "I won't tell anyone."

"Good," said Morgan. He put an arm around Reid's shoulders, in what would be seen as a friendly gesture to anyone who wasn't in on the situation, and led Reid from the office.

Reid didn't speak again until the two men re-entered the bullpen and sat down at their desks beside Prentiss. She was curious about what had transpired in their talk with Jordan, but she could also tell that it hadn't gone very well. Best to proceed with caution, then. "Was it really that bad?" she asked softly.

"Well she wasn't disgusted, or against our relationship," said Reid, trying in vain to apply logical thinking to the situation. "And she did promise that she wouldn't tell anyone about us."

"But?" said Prentiss, knowing there was more to the story than that.

"She said she didn't know either way whether she was _accepting _of our relationship or not," Morgan replied. "She was definitely shocked when we told her. She said she needed time to think about it and take it in." He scoffed at the end, as if he didn't believe that Jordan needed time to know how she really felt about their relationship.

Reid sighed and looked down at his long, spider-like fingers, his sadness and hurt clearly evident in his eyes. "I knew this would happen," he whispered, so quietly that Prentiss and Morgan almost didn't happen.

"Hey, pretty boy," said Morgan, getting up from his seat to stand over Reid. "She may not have reacted as well as we'd hoped, but she didn't react _badly_. You know that."

"Yeah, I know," said Reid. "But I- I can't help how I feel, Derek. I can't deny that it hurt me when she reacted like that. And what if she _doesn't_ accept our relationship? And even if she does, things are going to be so tense between us. I don't know how we're going to work properly with her now."

"We're going to have to try, kid," Morgan said, looking away from Reid when he heard his name being called. Hotch and JJ were striding purposefully across the bullpen towards them. Morgan sprang away from Reid instantly; JJ and Hotch may have known about the relationship between the two male agents, but he knew that anybody else in the room could figure out the truth from their actions. "What is it, Hotch?"

"Garcia wants to see you in her office," Hotch told him.

Morgan shot Reid a look, to which Reid responded with a quick "I'll be fine." Morgan wasn't convinced, but knowing he wouldn't be able to do anything about it while at work he headed off for Garcia's office, leaving Reid in the bullpen with the others.

Even though he was almost sure he already knew what the answer was, Hotch had to ask Reid anyway. "Did the two of you tell Jordan?"

Reid nodded. "Yes, we told her," he answered, fighting hard to keep the heavy emotions out of his voice.

"And how did she react?" Hotch asked in his usual manner.

"She said she wasn't against it, and she wasn't disgusted by it. And she did say that she wouldn't tell anyone about us," said Reid, once again sounding like he was trying and failing miserably to counter his emotions with logic. "But she was very, very shocked. Visibly so. She said she needed time to figure out whether she was actually accepting of our relationship or not." By the end of his explanation, the hurt was beginning to creep into Reid's voice.

"Oh, Spence…" JJ said. She ached to comfort her best friend, but knew she wouldn't be able to do that in the middle of the office, and that she shouldn't be the one to do that. That was Morgan's job. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Reid replied shortly. None of them believe him though; "I'm fine" was his standard answer to that question, no matter whether he was or not.

"Reid…" Hotch said warningly.

"Shouldn't we be working?" Reid asked, trying to deflect attention from himself. The other three agents sighed; they knew they wouldn't be able to get any more out of the stubborn genius.

"Should I send Jordan home?" JJ asked tentatively.

"No," Reid replied instantly, startling everyone. "JJ, you're sick, you need her help. She hasn't done anything wrong; let her stay."

"Are you sure?"

Reid nodded. "I'd feel bad if you made her leave, like she was being punished. She wouldn't be working with me, anyway- only you. Let her have the time she needs to figure out how she feels." That was typical Reid- somehow shifting the blame onto himself and not having any negative feelings towards Jordan. "She was sincerely sorry for the way she reacted, JJ. It's not like she was disgusted or anything."

JJ nodded. "Okay then…" she said slowly. "I'll get back to work then."

"JJ!" Reid called out, when the blonde turned to leave. She turned back around to face Reid and looked at him, curious. "Don't- don't treat her like she's done anything wrong, okay?" he pleaded. "Because she hasn't, and she doesn't deserve that."

JJ gave Reid a small smile. "Of course I won't, Reid." And with that, she turned and headed back to her office and to Jordan.

"Are you _sure_ you're okay, Reid?" Prentiss asked.

"I wish people would stop asking me that," said Reid irritably, before turning to his stack of folders and beginning to work.

Prentiss and Hotch sighed once more and looked at each other as if to say, _we're not going to get any more out of him_. Both of them also knew that they wouldn't be able to comfort him in any way- only Morgan would be able to do that. Not knowing what else to do, Prentiss turned back to her paperwork and Hotch returned to his office. They'd have to make sure that Morgan talked with Reid later.

* * *

><p>Morgan, the worry about how Reid was feeling now filling his heart, rapped his knuckles on the doorframe to Garcia's office. "Baby girl?" he said softly. "Hotch said you wanted to see me?"<p>

Garcia span around on her chair, her bright smile faltering when she saw Morgan's face. "Honey? What's wrong?" Suddenly, she remembered what Morgan and Reid had been going to do. "Oh, Derek. Did she really react that badly?"

Morgan shook his head. "No, it didn't go badly," he said. "It just didn't go that well, either. I don't think Spence handled it great."

Garcia sighed sadly. "Oh, our boy genius! How did Jordan react, exactly?"

"Well she wasn't disgusted or against our relationship or anything like that," Morgan replied. "She was just very, very shocked. She said she needed time to let the news sink in. I know Jordan didn't mean to hurt Reid, but he didn't take her reaction very well."

"And you?" said Garcia.

"I can understand that she was shocked," said Morgan. "I was kind of expecting that from her, anyway. And like I said, she was only very surprised, not appalled. Her reaction didn't hurt me. But Spence… this is exactly what he was worried about."

"You need to talk to him, Morgan," Garcia told him.

"I know, I know I do," Morgan assured her. "But I can't do it in the middle of work, not here. I'll wait until later, when he comes back to my place. Then we'll talk."

"Does Reid come over every night?" Garcia asked suddenly.

"I'm sorry, what?" said Morgan, confused.

"You heard me, handsome. Answer the question."

"He comes over pretty much every night, yeah," said Morgan. "Sometimes we go to his apartment, but my house is bigger, as is my bed," he added with a slight grin.

"Why haven't you moved in together yet, then?" Garcia asked.

Morgan just stared at Garcia, even more shocked than he was at her last question. "Because if we moved in together, it would make Strauss and the FBI very suspicious of us, and it wouldn't be long until everything came out. Besides, we haven't even been together three months!"

"Honey, you're practically living together already," Garcia pointed out. "And you could always move in together 'unofficially'. Reid doesn't necessarily have to change his address, or move all his stuff into your house. Or you could always make up something about why he moved in with you."

Morgan gave a small smile. "I'll consider it, Garcia." If he really thought about it, the idea of living with Reid was very appealing to him. And Garcia was right; nobody had to find out the _real_ reason Reid moved in with him. And it didn't have to be _official_, as Garcia had put it.

But Morgan couldn't think about that right now. What with Elle's return, and Jordan's reaction to his and Reid's relationship, they had too much on their plate right now. Morgan's number one priority was to comfort Reid and to make sure he was okay. And he knew exactly how to do it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Aw, poor Reid! Why on earth I always make _him_ depressed, I have no idea. I guess it always seems more believable to me than Morgan getting upset.  
>And before any of you get me wrong, I did kinda like Jordan when she was on the show, so rest assured Jordan not reacting to the news well is not me getting some kind of weird revenge on her or anything- like all issues, that one will be resolved eventually :)<strong>

**Note from Diamond Cobra: ****"I forgot to write one of these last chapter .. ****I have a new fic, my first ever original one-shot (that I've finished and posted). Check it out? Please? =3. ****Also, am I the only one who has no idea who Jordan is?" (watch season 4 my dear, watch season 4)**

**Review guys? They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and cheer me up when I'm in those really crappy moods. Please? :)**


	7. Picnic in the Park

**A/N: So I'm not dead guys! I know it's been almost a month since I posted last, but I have been crazy busy lately. I finally turned 18, and then I had my mid-year exams. The final year of high school's a bitch, ain't it? Anyway, I've decided to try and make up for my lack of updates with some pure fluff between Morgan and Reid, before I really get on with the story. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

* * *

><p>Reid wasn't sure how much time had passed before he finally looked up from his paperwork and realised that Morgan <em>still<em> hadn't returned from Garcia's bunker. The only other member of the BAU present in the bullpen was Prentiss, with the rest of the team holed up in their respective offices. Reid looked at his watch. Morgan had been gone for more than an hour now. So where was he?

"Hey, Prentiss?" said Reid after another moment's thought. "D'you know where Derek is?"

Prentiss shook her head. "Sorry, Reid. I haven't seen him since he went to go talk with Garcia. I'm sure he's just helping her with some work or something like that."

"I know, I know. I just… never mind," said Reid, turning away from Prentiss and back to his desk.

"Reid," Prentiss whispered. The young man was surprised to hear Prentiss's voice right next to his ear. "You want to be with him right now; I get that. We all do, including Morgan. I'm sure that he wouldn't be away from you right now unless he absolutely needed to."

Reid gave a weak smile. "Thanks, Prentiss," he said sincerely. "I know he wouldn't be; I don't doubt him. I just wish that I at least knew where he was, that's all."

Prentiss rested a reassuring hand on Reid's shoulder and smiled at him. "Anybody would, Reid. And I'm sure he's got a very good reason for taking so long."

Almost as soon as the words left Prentiss's mouth, Morgan walked back into the room with a strange sort of smile on his face. One that said he had a secret he couldn't wait to reveal.

Reid wasn't the only one to notice this. As soon as Morgan walked into the room, Prentiss shot Reid a look that said, _see, I told you so,_ before turning to look at Morgan. "You look awfully proud of yourself there, Agent Morgan," Prentiss said with a grin. "What've you been up to?"

"That is none of your concern, Agent Prentiss," Morgan replied, with the same grin on his face. "But you may rest assured that it will make a certain someone very happy, I do believe."

Reid was nonplussed for a moment, until Morgan winked at him, with that smile on his face that Reid knew all too well; a little bit lecherous, but also saying _I love you more than anything_. Reid, while still feeling a little worried and confused, felt that same warmth he always did around Morgan begin to flood through him. Noticing this, Prentiss gave the boys a small wave, and then headed off to Hotch's office with a file in her hands.

"Time to go, pretty boy," Morgan announced.

Reid just stared at Morgan, confused. "Time to go?" he repeated. "It can't be that late!"

Morgan chuckled. "Kid, it's just past five," he said, laughing even more when Reid glanced at his watch. "So grab your bag, and come on!"

Still wondering what on earth Morgan was up to, Reid quickly finished off his last file, slung his messenger bag over his shoulder, and followed the older man out of the bullpen. Garcia, who walked past them on their way to the elevator, gave the two men an enthusiastic wave while shooting Morgan a meaningful look. Reid knew exactly what that meant- Garcia was in on what Morgan had planned, and she wanted details later.

Morgan and Reid had gotten down the elevator, through the car park and had reached Morgan's car before Reid spoke again. "What's going on, Derek?" he asked.

Morgan chuckled again. "I'm surprising you, that's what's going on," he said. "Now come on, baby. Get in the car."

Thoroughly intrigued now, Reid did as Morgan asked and slid into the passenger's seat. He wanted to ask Morgan more questions, but he also knew that Morgan would never tell him. Morgan climbed into his own seat and looked over at Reid, a warm smile on his face. "I love you, pretty boy," he said.

"I love you too," Reid replied sincerely. "But seriously, Derek, what's going on?"

"Can't tell you that yet," said Morgan. "It'd spoil the surprise." Nevertheless, Morgan reached over and took Reid's hand, squeezing it gently before starting up the car. He did not move his hand for the entire drive, loving the touch of Reid's skin and the electricity he could feel between them. Reid could feel it too; while he hadn't yet lost _all_ of his worries, he felt content.

"We're here, Spencer," Morgan announced, pulling Reid back to reality. He turned his head to the side, looking out the window to see where they were. Morgan chuckled at Reid craning his neck, acting like an excited and jumpy child.

"The park?" Reid said, confused. "We were at the park earlier, Derek. Why are we at another one?"

"We're at this park for a different reason, pretty boy," . Morgan answered. He opened his car door and looked at Reid. "Come on, let's go."

The two men climbed out of the car, and Reid became even more confused than he already was when Morgan walked around to the trunk and pulled out a large wicker basket. "Derek, seriously," Reid said. "What's going on?"

Morgan smiled, reaching out and taking Reid's hand again, linking their fingers together. "I'm spoiling you. You deserve it. Now seriously, come on."

Still gently clinging to Reid's hand, Morgan led the younger man through the park and towards a large, shady tree, in an area secluded from the rest of the park. Looking back at Reid and smiling again, Morgan reached into the basket and pulled out a green and red woollen blanket, setting it down on the ground. "Picnic time, baby," he announced.

"Picnic?" Reid repeated, almost as if he'd never even heard of one before. "I can't even remember the last time I ever went on a picnic."

Morgan looked at Reid, slightly shocked. "You can't remember ever being on a picnic? Really?"

"Mum… wasn't one for going outside very much," said Reid slowly. "Neither was I, to be honest. I was too busy inside, reading. And Dad… we were too different, even when I was at that age. We would've been too uncomfortable, like we were- I don't know, trying to fake it." Reid gave Morgan a wry smile. "If Dad and I were ever alone together, it was never at a picnic. It was him trying to get me to do sports and things, trying to make me a 'normal kid'."

Morgan sighed, straightening up and pulling Reid into his arms. "Well I guess it's time to make up for that experience you never got, huh?" he said. "I have coffee."

Reid pulled away from Morgan and looked at him, a kind of hopeful look on their face. "And sugar?"

Morgan chuckled. "Yes, kid. Sugar too." Morgan settled into a relaxed position on the blanket, gently tugging on Reid's hand so he sat down too. "I know _exactly_ how you like your coffee kid: tall, dark and oh so sweet. The same way you like your men."

Reid had to laugh at that one. "I guess that's true," he agreed, before becoming more sombre again. "I love you."

"I love you too, pretty boy," said Morgan. "And that's never gonna change, no matter what happens with Jordan, or with Elle, or with anybody else that decides to reappear in our lives after being gone for so long." As soon as he'd finished speaking Morgan leaned in and kissed Reid, a kiss filled with love and passion, trying to override Reid's worries with a much happier and warmer emotion. Reid didn't even hesitate before kissing Morgan back, leaning in even closer to his lover, not even caring that anyone could walk past and see them. Nothing else mattered in this moment; not Jordan, not Elle, not anybody else. The only thing that mattered was the two of them, the love they had for one another, the undeniable bond that they shared.

"It's only you," Reid whispered in the brief moment they broke apart. "Nothing else matters right now but you." He kissed Morgan deeply, before breaking away again. "I love you."

"Then you're going to love me even more, pretty boy," said Morgan with a grin. "I have chocolate-coated strawberries."

"You do?" Reid gasped, pulling away from Morgan. "Can I have some?"

"No, they're all mine." Morgan laughed aloud at the sombre pout on the young genius' face. "Of course you can, kid. I'm not going to withhold them from you." He reached into the picnic basket again and grabbed the strawberries and a small container of melted chocolate. Morgan had always known that Reid had a sweet tooth- it was evident in the copious amounts of sugar he put in his coffee each morning, and afternoon, and evening- the kid drank far too much coffee. Morgan had known that Reid would be delighted with the dessert.

As soon as he saw the food Reid reached for it, but Morgan gently slapped his hand back. "Nuh-uh-uh, Spencer," said Morgan with a grin. "Let me."

Reid was a little confused by Morgan's words, but he nodded and withdrew his hand slowly. Morgan instead selected a strawberry, dipped it deep into the liquid chocolate, and paused again. "Open up," he said to Reid. Reid opened his lips slightly, and Morgan slowly, almost sensually, slipped the treat into the genius's mouth.

"Mmmm," Reid moaned in delight as the flavour of the chocolate hit his tongue. "Wow, Derek. That tastes amazing." He stuck his tongue out of his mouth, licking the excess chocolate off of his lips and Morgan's fingers.

"You better stop doing that with your tongue," Morgan whispered, his voice a little rugged. "Or I'm not gonna be able to keep my hands off of you."

"Maybe I don't _want_ you to keep your hands off," Reid whispered back to Morgan, a glint in his eye.

"We're out in public," Morgan warned him.

"I don't care," said Reid, and it was obvious that he really didn't care. Neither did Morgan. With one hand on the back of Reid's neck, the other on his thigh, Morgan leant in as closely as he possibly could, pressing his lips to Reid's, the young genius kissing him back instantly. Morgan's tongue ran gently across Reid's lips, licking away any remaining chocolate, before trying to push its way into Reid's mouth and beginning a battle of dominance with Reid's own tongue.

"Well, well, well," said a voice, halting Reid and Morgan in the act. "Who do we have here, then?"

Reid and Morgan pulled apart, looking up at the very familiar voice. Sure enough, blonde-haired JJ was smiling down at the two of them, Will still a few metres away from them, walking up to them while pushing Henry in a stroller. "Hey, JJ," Morgan said with an easy smile. "What brings you here?"

"Just taking Henry for a walk," JJ replied. "You two look like you were enjoying yourselves."

"Spencer needed to take his mind off things," said Morgan. "And god knows we both needed the stress relief."

JJ nodded in agreement. "I can't argue with you there," she said. Will came up behind JJ at that moment, wrapping one arm around her waist and smiling down at Reid and Morgan. "Hey, guys," he said in his thick southern accent.

"Hey, Will," said Morgan, standing up and holding out a hand to help Reid to his feet. To Reid's surprise, Morgan wrapped an arm around Reid's waist and pulled the younger man closer to his side. Reid looked at Will, but the easy-going, lazy smile never left the man's face. He wasn't even fazed by Reid and Morgan, and their actions that showed so obviously that they were in a relationship.

Suddenly, a cry came from the stroller and the four of them turned to look at Henry struggling to get free, reaching for Reid.

JJ laughed. "I think Henry wants to see his godfather," she said. Henry let out another cry, almost as if he were agreeing with his mother. "D'you wanna hold him?"

Reid was unable to help the smile that lit up his face. "Yeah, I'll hold him," he agreed. JJ reached down, lifting the squirming baby out of his stroller and handing him to Reid. Henry instantly calmed down, smiling and giggling at Reid. "Hey, little man," said Reid softly, a little bit unsure. Henry babbled at Reid, reaching out and grabbing a lock of the genius's hair.

JJ, Will and Morgan all laughed. "Hey, Spence, I think he likes you," said JJ.

"I guess Henry is one of the few exceptions to the Reid Effect," said Morgan with a grin. Seeing Reid with Henry, both of them with smiles on their faces, Morgan felt a kind of weird ache in his heart. He'd always imagined himself having kids, always wanted them. Two or three, at least. And despite the aversion most children had towards Reid, Morgan had always thought that Reid would be a good father. Now for both of them, that was impossible. They could adopt, he supposed. But being in a relationship together- one that Morgan already knew in his heart would last- they would never be able to have their own, biological children. And that made his heart almost break.

Whoa. Whoa. _Whoa_. Children? Where on earth had that thought come from? Morgan and Reid hadn't even been together three months, and thoughts of having children together randomly popped into his mind? Maybe Morgan was much more serious about his relationship with Reid than he'd already thought.

"You okay in there, Morgan?" JJ asked, snapping Morgan out of his reverie.

"I, uh, yeah, I'm okay," Morgan stammered, flashing an easy smile at JJ, Will and Reid, who was still holding Henry in his arms. The young boy was starting to doze off, snuggling into Reid's chest and yawning rather deeply.

Morgan turned took look at Will. "Hey, man, can I ask you a question?" he said. Will nodded, so Morgan continued. "JJ… JJ didn't tell you about me and Reid, did she?"

"No, she didn't tell me," Will confirmed. "She wouldn't have if she'd thought there was any chance that you wouldn't want her too."

"Thanks, JJ," said Morgan, turning to smile at JJ briefly before looking back at Will. "Well you know now, I guess." Will nodded. "So what d'you think?" Reid looked between Morgan and Will, suddenly anxious about what Will was going to say.

"I know now," Will agreed. "And you know what? I don't care. I mean, I care that you guys are happy; you deserve it, and I'm happy for you if you're happy," he clarified. "I mean, I don't care that you two are in a relationship together. I don't care that you're gay, bisexual, whatever. I mean, remember when y'all were investigating that case in Miami where my friend Charlie Luvet died, and I found out he was gay? I didn't mind the fact that he was gay, and I don't mind the fact that you two are. I guess that's what I meant."

"Thanks, Will," said Morgan sincerely. "That really means a lot."

Reid nodded in agreement. "It does, Will," he said. "Thanks for saying that." Looking down at Henry in his arms, and realising that he'd finally fallen asleep, Reid handed him back to his mother. "I guess you should take him home, then."

"Bye, then," said JJ, buckling her sleeping son back into his stroller. "I'll see you guys at work tomorrow."

"It was good running into you," Will added. "Hopefully I'll see you and the rest of your team soon."

"Good to see you too, Will," said Morgan, Reid nodding in agreement. After JJ and Will had given them one last wave and walked off with Henry, Morgan gave Reid's waist a tight squeeze. "Well, wasn't that a pleasant surprise?"

Reid smiled. "Yeah, I guess it was," he agreed. "I'm glad Will's happy for us. It would've been hard for JJ if he wasn't."

"There you go again, always thinking of other people and not yourself," said Morgan affectionately, using his free hand to ruffle Reid's hair.

"It's just who I am, Derek."

"I know," Morgan replied. "And I love you for it." He turned his head slightly to kiss Reid. "I wouldn't change a thing about you," he whispered.

"And I wouldn't change a thing about you, either," said Reid. He was silent for a moment before speaking again. "Can I… can I stay with you tonight?"

"Of course, pretty boy," Morgan answered. "You don't even have to ask. Anytime you want to be there, just ask." Reid smiled, and the two men packed up their picnic basket and headed for Morgan's car again.

The drive back to Morgan's was unusually silent. Reid's normal rambling was nonexistent, replaced instead by rather frequent, long yawns. He was tired, both he and Morgan could tell. It looked like it would be straight to bed for them tonight and unfortunately only sleeping would occur there.

Reid was already starting to nod off by the time they had pulled up outside Morgan's house. His head was resting against the window of Morgan's car, and his eyelids were drooping shut.

"Come on, pretty boy," said Morgan gently. "Let's go inside."

Reid nodded, but struggled to open the car door by himself. Noticing this, Morgan ran around and opened the door for Reid, helping him out of the car. "Thanks, Derek," Reid murmured. "I don't know why I'm so tired."

"You've had a very stressful day, Spence," Morgan pointed out. "And emotionally draining. I'm not surprised you're so tired."

"I guess you're right." As if to punctuate this, Reid yawned again, even louder and longer than he had before. Morgan pulled Reid closer to his side, and led him up the stairs into the house.

"D'you want me to help you get undressed?" Morgan asked Reid when they reached the bedroom.

"I'm not _that_ tired, Derek," said Reid, but with a grin on his face. "I _can_ undress myself."

"I know you can," said Morgan. "But maybe I _want_ to help you." Reid just shook his head, removing his vest, shirt, tie and pants, while Morgan got undressed as well. As soon as both of them were done Reid moved closer to Morgan, snaking his arms around the older man's waist. "Sleeping in your underwear, huh?" Morgan noticed.

"Yep," Reid replied. "You've already seen it all, anyway. I'm still going to sleep in my tracksuit while we're away on cases, though."

"Afraid of someone on the team seeing you, then," Morgan laughed. "Let's go to bed, kid. I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be an even bigger day than today was."

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><p><strong>AN: Okay, that is _not_ how I meant for this chapter to turn out. I mean, I planned the impromptu picnic, but I didn't plan on JJ, Henry and Will showing up there. I guess I did always plan on Will (and eventually Kevin as well) finding out about Morgan and Reid, but I didn't plan on it being now. And I always planned on Will being okay with their relationship- he was okay when he found out his dead cop friend was gay in _In Heat_, so it would be double standards if he wasn't okay with Reid and Morgan.**

**Note from Diamond Cobra: So, I finally got to the episodes with Jordan and now knoew what she looks like :D.**  
><strong>Unfortunately it's not how I imagined. Anyone watch Mentalist? Cause I always thought of Jordan like the section chief woman. Damn what's her name? Can't remember. Anyway, my view of Jordan was completely wrong."<strong>

**So, reviews guys? I miss them heaps! I promise I'll update soooooo much faster than I did this time! :P**


	8. Let Him Come

**A/N: Sorry again for a rather long wait, guys! I actually had this chapter finished 3 days ago, but I went away to visit family and I had no internet connection, so I couldn't post! And school's about to start again tomorrow! It's my last full term before final exams, and then I graduate, so you can bet they're going to cram a lot into the term! I don't know how often I will be able to post, but rest assured that I will post as often as I possibly can!  
>Oh, and in one of my reviews, PinkHimeLacus asked me whether I was a fan of mpreg, and whether I would write a story for this series with pregnant!Reid. I do like mpreg stories, and I wasn't going to write one, but I am now considered writing a spin-off mpreg story, which will have no bearing on the rest of the series whatsoever. I've put a poll up on my profile asking whether you guys want me to do that, so please go and vote so I know whether you guys want the mpreg story!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

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><p>Reid awoke the next morning with a terrible sense of foreboding. Maybe it had something to do with what Morgan had said the night before as they went to sleep: <em>I have a feeling that tomorrow's gonna be an even bigger day than today was<em>, or maybe it was just Reid being insecure as he always was. Whatever it was, he felt like this would be a rather long and difficult day.

Gently pushing back the covers so as not to wake Morgan, Reid sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed, thinking. So many things had happened in the past few days. Reid had gone from thinking he was going crazy because he was seeing Elle Greenaway everywhere, to realising she was actually back as well as her coming to see the team. He and Morgan had had to tell Jordan Todd about their relationship- and she hadn't exactly taken it well. Reid knew that if she stuck around, he would eventually have to tell Elle about him and Morgan, which he was definitely not looking forward to. What else could possibly happen?

"Baby? Are you okay?" said Morgan groggily, having just woken up.

"Yeah, Derek, I'm fine," Reid assured him. "I'm just thinking, that's all."

"That's all you ever do," said Morgan, sitting up beside Reid and putting an arm around the skinny man's waist. "Worrying, too. Why don't you stop doing both of those things for just a moment?"

Reid sighed, leaning into Morgan's side. "Believe me, I wish I could. I really, really do. I just... when I woke up, I couldn't help but feel that today is going to be even bigger than yesterday was."

"Today's gonna have to be a pretty big day to top yesterday," said Morgan. "What with telling Jordan about us, and then Elle actually showing herself to everyone."

"You said so yourself last night, that you felt that today would be bigger than yesterday was," Reid pointed out.

"I did, and still do, feel that way, but I still have no idea how." Morgan replied.

"Maybe we'll have to tell Elle about us," Reid said.

"As long as we don't have to tell Strauss," said Morgan with a shudder. "I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

"Me neither," Reid admitted. "But we need to stop speculating. Even profilers can't predict the future."

"Why Doctor Reid, I do believe you just made a joke," said Morgan, laughing. Reid blushed slightly, looking down bashfully, which did nothing but cause Morgan to laugh even more. He managed to calm down enough to kiss Reid, melting the pout right off of his face. "Come on, pretty boy. Time to get ready."

Reid nodded and automatically reached for the bag that he now permanently left at Morgan's, but he was still unable to banish the feeling of foreboding from his mind. Nothing Morgan said or did to try and make him feel better was helping. Maybe once they finally got to work, Reid would be able to focus on his paperwork and not worry about an event he didn't know anything about, or that he didn't even know would happen.

Prentiss was already at her desk by the time Reid and Morgan arrived in the bullpen. "Morning, boys," she greeted them, a slightly cautious and gentle tone to her voice.

"Morning, Prentiss," Morgan replied. Reid smiled at her, a genuine smile, but he said nothing and his face almost instantly clouded over again.

"Are you okay?" Prentiss asked.

"Spencer woke up this morning with a horrible feeling that today is going to be an even bigger day than yesterday was," Morgan answered.

"And no matter what I try, I can't make the feeling go away," Reid added.

"You have had a pretty big few days, what with Jordan and Elle," said Prentiss. "I can't blame you for feeling worried like this."

Reid remained silent, instead trying to focus on the files in front of him. After a few moments, though, he put down his pen again and sighed. "I can't concentrate. I can't focus on my work at all."

"Here, pretty boy." Morgan reached over to Reid's desk, taking some of the younger man's files and adding them to his own pile. "I get you to do my paperwork often enough. It's time I returned the favour."

Reid didn't say anything, but instead shot Morgan a very grateful look. Prentiss studied the two of them, a small smile on her face. Morgan looked over at her, feeling her eyes on him. "What? What're you looking at?"

"You two," Prentiss replied. "Do you have any idea how adorable you are together?" Reid blushed profusely, red colouring his face all the way to the roots of his hair. "I'm serious!" Prentiss continued. "I wish you two could see yourselves."

"What d'you mean?" Morgan asked, confused, at the same time looking around to make sure no one else could hear them. "What're you talking about?"

"Even at the mere mention of each other, the minute you see each other, your faces light up," Prentiss explained. "Your bodies gravitate towards each other without even thinking. I honestly don't think I have ever seen two people so in love with each other."

Both Reid and Morgan remained silent for a long moment, studying each other. "Garcia told me, while we were in Milwaukee, before the rest of you knew about us, that my voice changes whenever I talk about Derek."

Prentiss chuckled softly. "It's true," she said. "It happened just then."

Morgan chuckled as well when Reid blushed even deeper. "Who would've thought, when you first joined the BAU, that we would become this? That there would be a 'you and me'?"

"I certainly didn't," Reid admitted. "And now I can't even imagine a world where you and me _aren't_ together."

"I hope you never have to, pretty boy," said Morgan, flashing Reid his oh-so-charming grin.

"Your voice does it too, Morgan," Prentiss noticed. "When you talk about Reid. Your voice changes the same way his does when he talks about you. It goes all soft and happy."

As Morgan stammered and spluttered, trying to think of what to say next, Hotch left his office and headed down towards the three agents in the bullpen. "We're meeting in the conference room now," he informed them brusquely.

"Why?" said Morgan. "We don't have a case, do we?"

Hotch shook his head. "No, we don't. This is something else."

Prentiss, Reid and Morgan looked at each other, confused. What on earth was going on?

Hotch didn't say anything else, just turned and walked towards the meeting room. Sensing their boss's urgency, the three agents immediately rose from their seats and followed him. Was this about Elle, or Jordan? Or had somebody found out about Morgan and Reid?

When the four of them entered the room, JJ and Jordan were already seated at the table, waiting. Jordan looked up very briefly, flashing Reid and Morgan a very small smile, before looking down again almost instantly.

Reid wanted to ask Hotch what was going on right then and there, but he could sense that their unit chief wasn't going to tell them anything until Rossi and Garcia showed up. Luckily the bubbly technical analyst walked in only a few seconds later, looking as thoroughly confused as everyone else did. "What's going on, boss man?" Garcia asked. "Why've you got us all in here like this, when we don't have a case?"

"This is very important," said Hotch. "So I need to wait until Rossi gets here before I can tell you."

The team settled in for a rather nervous wait. Reid and Morgan sat beside each other, holding hands under the table, trying to draw comfort from the gentle touch of the other's skin. _It'll be all right_, they seemed to be saying to each other, without words. _It will be all right. There is no way that this has anything to do with us. _We'll _be all right._

Rossi walked in after fifteen minutes, apologising for being late due to a flat tire. Hotch waved away his concerns, instead turning back to the team as soon as Rossi had sat down. "I wanted to tell you this yesterday, but with everything that happened…" Hotch trailed off, not wanting or needing to finish the sentence. They all heard the unspoken words. "I'm still not sure whether I should be telling you this now. I'm still not sure whether I should be telling you this at all."

"Hotch, I know all of us are thinking this, so I'm just going to say it," said Prentiss. "What the hell is going on?"

"This team has been through enough lately, I-"

"Hotch," JJ interrupted. "Whatever it is, just tell us. We can all handle it. The _team_ can handle it."

"I know you can," Hotch assured her. "It's not the entire team I'm worried about, though." He turned to look at Reid. "Reid, if you think you need some more time to- think other things over before-"

"Hotch, how can I know whether I can handle this, or I'm ready for this, when I don't know what _this_ is?" Reid asked. "Trust me. Whatever it is, I can handle it." He squeezed Morgan's hand under the table, and his lover heard his unspoken message. _I can handle anything with you right here with me_.

"Reid, I-"

"Hotch, please," said Reid, interrupting the unit chief once again. "Just tell us. Besides, what on earth could be bigger than Elle coming back to Quantico?"

"Jason Gideon coming back," Hotch answered. Everyone on the team stared at him, stunned into silence. Had Hotch really said what they had heard him say?

"I'm sorry, _what_?" said Morgan, the first one to break the silence.

"Yesterday, when we were talking about Elle, do you guys remember how I received a phone call?" said Hotch. Everyone on the team nodded except for Reid, who was so stunned he was frozen. "Well, the person who called me was Gideon. He's back. He asked about the team, but I didn't feel comfortable telling him anything without your permission. He wants to come and see us too, but I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Did you tell him anything?" Morgan asked, knowing Reid was still processing Hotch's words.

"All I told him was that things have changed," Hotch assured Morgan and the others. "Especially Reid. But that's all."

"So you didn't tell him about…"

"No, I didn't tell him," said Hotch. "That's not my right. That's yours, and it always will be yours."

"Why… why did you tell him it wasn't a good idea to come?" Reid asked in a small voice, startling the others.

"Because I thought that him coming here wouldn't help us right now," Hotch replied. "It would make things a lot harder for all of us."

"But _why_ is he back in the first place, though?" said Prentiss. "I mean, he just left us without a word of warning, no explanation, with every indication that we would never see him again. So why on earth is he here?"

"I don't know," Hotch admitted. "I never asked him; I didn't get the chance. But I'm not sure I'm going to need to ask him at all."

"Why not?" Rossi asked.

"Because I don't think he should come here," Hotch said. "Like I said before, I don't think it's a good idea. We all saw how much Gideon leaving affected each and every one of us. Him coming back, and possibly leaving us again at any moment, could bring that all back again."

"Let him come."

Reid's words were so sudden, it took the rest of the team a while to realise he had spoken. And once they had, they could barely believe what he had said. Out of all of them, he had been the one most affected by Gideon's departure. Gideon and Reid had been close, having a mentor, almost father-son relationship. And then Gideon had just upped and left, without a word of warning, leaving Reid rather like his own father had done. Reid had been badly hurt by that, especially when Gideon had left Reid a letter instead of explaining everything in person. Reid had felt abandoned by Gideon, and nobody had thought that he'd even be able to see his former mentor again,

Obviously they'd been wrong.

"Spence, are you sure?" Morgan asked Reid, unable to keep a slight note of shock out of his voice. "You don't have to do this. You don't have to see him."

"Morgan's right, Reid," said Hotch. "You don't have to let him come. I've already told him no once. I can tell him for sure that you don't want to see him again, and he won't come at all. He'll leave, and he won't come back again."

"Hotch, I'm okay with seeing Gideon," Reid insisted. "Really. He wants to come, and I know that some part of all of you wants to see him, even after he hurt us by leaving."

"Reid-"

"Let him come," Reid repeated. "Just let him."

Hotch studied Reid for one long moment, before nodding slowly. "Okay. If you're absolutely sure, I'll call him. I'll go to my office and call him."

"Do it," said Reid. "Go call him."

Hotch nodded once again and headed for his office, pulling out his phone as he went. The rest of the team just sat there, thinking that they should say something but having no idea what.

Finally, Garcia spoke up. "Are you really sure about this, Reid?" she asked tentatively.

"I really wish people would stop asking me that," Reid replied. "I'm totally fine with seeing Gideon again. Really."

Morgan opened his mouth to say something to Reid, but then closed it again, realising that he shouldn't be saying anything in front of the others.

Garcia, perhaps sensing this, put a hand gently on Morgan's shoulder. "Go talk in my office," she suggested.

Morgan nodded gratefully. "Thanks, Garcia. C'mon, Spence. Come with me."

Morgan rose from his seat and left the room, Reid following behind him instantly. As soon as they left the room the others started talking, almost definitely about Gideon.

As soon as Reid and Morgan entered Garcia's office Morgan turned and locked the door behind them, ensuring that they wouldn't be interrupted. "Spence. Pretty boy," he said.

"I know what you're going to ask me, Derek," said Reid. "You're gonna ask me whether I'm really okay with seeing Gideon."

"It's a perfectly reasonable question," Morgan pressed. "Gideon just left, just walked out on us. I _know_ how hard that was on you." Reid almost flinched, and Morgan could tell that he was right. He also knew that he had to tread carefully, lest he upset Reid. "Spencer." Morgan reached out and took his boyfriend's hand, holding it tightly in both of his. "You don't have to do this. You don't have to see him again if you don't want to."

"I know I don't, Derek," said Reid. "But he wants to come back, and wants to at least _try_ and make amends. And you guys may not have shown it, but I know you want to see him. We need to at least hear what he has to say."

But Spencer-"

"I said I'm _fine_, Derek!" Reid snapped, quickly pulling his hand out of Morgan's grasp. "Yes, he hurt me, and yes, it reminded me of when my father left, but I think I can handle at least hearing what he has to say. I don't have to forgive him. I can handle this."

"I know you can," said Morgan softly. "If you believe you can do this, then you can do this. I'm sorry for doubting you."

"I'm stronger than you all think," said Reid.

"I know you are, baby," Morgan whispered. "I know how strong you are. I just don't want to see you hurt, that's all." He reached out a hand, gently placing it against the side of Reid's face. Reid leant into Morgan's hand almost unconsciously, needing that warmth and comfort. "I love you." He moved in even closer, not moving his hand, and pressed a gentle, fleeting kiss to Reid's lips. As if that kiss wasn't enough for Morgan, he went back in again, and again, and again.

"Derek…" Reid almost moaned. "Derek, we're at _work_. "And there's a camera in here."

"Oh pretty boy, Garcia meddled with that camera _long_ ago," said Morgan, kissing Reid again, this time with more passion than Reid could handle. This time he _had_ to kiss Morgan back, bracing one hand on Morgan's chest and the other on the small of his back, pulling Morgan closer to him. He was hungry, so hungry for Morgan's touch, his lips, his love. He didn't care that they were at work, he didn't care that they were in Garcia's office; all he cared about was Morgan.

Morgan slid a hand up between Reid's thighs and Reid shuddered, unable to stop a low moan from escaping his lips. Morgan silenced him with another kiss. "Ssh, pretty boy," he whispered. "Nobody may be able to see us or get into us, but we are at work. They could still hear us."

Reid nodded, not sure he'd be able to speak. Breathy pants were all that he could get out of his mouth, especially when Morgan left his hand between the genius's thighs, gently stroking one while his other hand tangled in Reid's hair.

Little did the two men know, Garcia was standing outside her office, as close to the door as she could get, listening in on them. Prentiss walked by as she was doing this and stopped, confused. "Garcia, what on earth are you doing?" she asked.

"Ssh!" Garcia hissed, waving a hand to quiet Prentiss. "They'll hear you!"

"What're you talking about?" said Prentiss, and then she understood. "Are Reid and Morgan in there?"

Garcia nodded her head vigorously, a huge grin on her face. "Yep. Full on making out, too. Moaning and everything!"

"Garcia, we shouldn't spy on them!" Prentiss admonished. "Reid would be embarrassed, and Morgan would probably be seriously pissed."

"They don't have to _know_ we're spying on them," Garcia said. "And aren't you a _little_ bit curious?"

Prentiss was silent for the briefest of moments. "Make room for me," she said finally, moving closer to the door so she could hear Reid and Morgan. "They're not having _sex_ are they?" she whispered to Garcia.

Garcia shook her head. "Nope. Not even Morgan is brave enough to have sex at work, in my office, when I could record their every move if I wanted to. Not that I'm going to, of course. Not to our boy genius. But I could. Either way, it wouldn't be very wise to do it on the job when even the slightest hint of a post-sex look could give them away."

Prentiss almost laughed, but a shuddering gasp that could only be coming from Morgan stopped her. "Wow, Reid must be good," she whispered.

Garcia could only grin at Prentiss as another low moan escaped from the room. "Derek…"

Suddenly, Prentiss frantically began tapping Garcia's shoulder. "Garcia!" she hissed. "Hotch is coming!"

Garcia immediately pulled away from the door and looked down the corridor. Sure enough, Hotch was walking towards them. "Okay, I'm just gonna pretend I was coming to get them," she said, before knocking loudly on the door. "Morgan! Reid!" she called. "The boss man is coming!"

There was a moment's scuffling from within the room, and Reid and Morgan emerged. They'd managed to tidy themselves up, but Reid's hair was rather messy and the two women couldn't help but notice that his collar was pulled up even higher than before. Before Prentiss or Garcia could say anything, though, Hotch walked up to the four of them.

"I just called Gideon," he said. "He's coming."

Their momentary fun forgotten, the four agents turned to look at each other, a range of emotions flying across their faces. Only Reid's expression was unreadable; he didn't know what he was feeling. He guessed that he'd just have to wait until he saw Gideon to find out.

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><p><strong>AN: Oh, wow, Garcia, you are such a perv... and I have a feeling that as soon as he sees Gideon, Reid will know exactly how he feels about him...**

**Note from Diamond Cobra: "I like Reid when he gets a little fiesty ;)"**

**Don't forget to review, and vote on my poll! :)**


	9. Still Not Over It

**A/N: So the moment has arrived- the team is finally going to see Gideon again. I wonder how Reid's gonna handle things? Oh, and I was just looking at my plan for this particular story, and realised it may actually hit 20 chapters. THAT I definitely wasn't expecting. Well, it might not get that long, but it's definitely going to be longer than I thought it would be.**

**Oh, and I still have the poll up on my profile about whether I should write a spin-off Morgan/Reid mpreg fic, if you haven't voted on it yet, please do! Remember, it will have no bearing on the rest of my series whatsoever, someone asked me to write one so I wanted to see if anyone else wanted it before I wrote it! But enough about that- on with the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

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><p>It was two days later when the team gathered in a café, waiting to see Gideon. They hadn't wanted to meet him in the FBI building; Hotch had thought that'd be best, and the team had agreed. A café was far more relaxed and was further from the scene of their last meeting.<p>

When Hotch had called Gideon back, all he had said was "you can come". He hadn't told Gideon why the team had changed their minds nor who it was that caused this change; he felt that that wasn't his to say. Gideon hadn't said much either- the ex-profiler knew that things were tense enough already, asking more would be a folly so he only asked Hotch where and when they were to meet.

So here they were.

No one on the team was really paying any attention to one another. They were all staring deeply into their coffees, taking heavy swigs of the hot liquid, too busy thinking about their own emotions and the fact that they were about to see Gideon again to worry about anyone else. The only one of them who wasn't present was Jordan; she'd decided to remain behind at the office, feeling that she would be intruding as she wasn't a permanent member of the team and had never even met Gideon before.

There was one person whose mind was not on his own feelings, however. Derek Morgan was watching his boyfriend closely, and was beginning to think that maybe Reid shouldn't have agreed to this. He looked very nervous and apprehensive, like he wasn't really sure what was going to happen. And normally, Reid would've been on to his third cup of coffee by now at the very least. He'd barely touched his first one. And seriously, for anyone that knew Reid, that was a clear and shining beacon that something bad was going on in that overactive mind of his.

Morgan yearned to comfort Reid, to just reach out and pull him into his arms, but he knew he couldn't. They were out in public and rather close to the FBI building; anybody could walk in and see them, and Gideon could walk in any moment and that was not the way they wanted to come out to him. If they wanted to at all, that is; Morgan didn't like to think about the other man's potential reactions and the effects they could have on Reid. Out of anyone, he'd be able to put two and two together. And Morgan knew that they, well he, wasn't ready to deal with any of that. Not yet.

Reid looked up from his coffee and froze, his eyes focused somewhere outside the café. "Spencer?" said Morgan, alerting the others to Reid's unmoving gaze. "What is it?"

"He's here," Reid whispered, his eyes following some sort of movement. The others turned to look out the window and sure enough, Gideon was walking across the street towards the café. Towards them.

Gideon looked almost the same as he had when they'd last seen him. His face looked rather less worn than it had; obviously retirement and his trip had been good for him. He did look nervous though, but that was obviously through the situation he was in currently, seeing the team again after almost two years.

Gideon entered the coffee, and hesitated at the doorway for a moment before walking slowly towards the team. He stopped in front of the table, unsure of what to say. No one could remember seeing him so hesitant before now.

Hotch was the first one to make a move, standing up and holding out his head. "Hello, Jason," he said, in his usual neutral tone.

Gideon took Hotch's hand, shaking it firmly. "Hello, Aaron. You look well."

"Thanks," Hotch replied. "You remember the team, of course."

Gideon nodded towards the team, and each of them waved to him and murmured a hello. Everyone except Reid. He looked at Gideon briefly, before looking down at his coffee and finally taking a long drink. Noticing this, Morgan squeezed Reid's leg reassuringly under the table, so nobody else could see.

An awkward silence fell over the group, before Hotch pulled up an extra chair and gestured for Gideon to sit down. "Maybe you should tell us what you've been doing," he suggested.

Gideon nodded. "Well, I've pretty much just been travelling," he said. "All around the country; I think I've been to every state for at least some period of time. Some more than others, though. I have thought about all of you from time to time, but it wasn't until recently that I thought about coming to see you."

"Why so long?" Rossi asked. While he had been Gideon's replacement in the team, and therefore hadn't worked with Gideon since he'd come out of retirement, he had worked with Gideon in the past and therefore did know the man.

"I just couldn't do it," Gideon answered. "I just… I couldn't bring myself to come back here. I couldn't do it. All the feelings that drove me to leave were preventing me from coming back."

"So then why are you back now?" said Prentiss.

"Well, I've been thinking about coming to see you guys for a few months before now," Gideon explained. "It's only now that I actually thought that I could do it."

Throughout this entire exchange, Reid had remained silent. For the first part he had continued to stare into his coffee as if thinking something over, but eventually he had looked up at Gideon and now appeared to be studying the older man. Before actually seeing Gideon, Reid honestly hadn't known what he felt about his former mentor being back. He had thought that that had meant he was neutral towards Gideon, that he could handle Gideon being back. Not necessarily easily, but he'd thought he could handle it.

Looking at Gideon now, though, Reid was beginning to realise that he had been wrong. Everything Reid had felt when he'd discovered that Gideon had left without saying goodbye, the confusion, the hurt, and the _pain_ he had felt was rising to the surface again. Gideon had abandoned Reid; there was no other way to describe it. He had done nothing to explain his very abrupt departure but leave Reid a letter. He'd done exactly the same thing Reid's dad had done. And Reid still hadn't forgiven him.

Morgan's hand was still lying, invisible to the rest of the team and Gideon, on Reid's leg, a comforting gesture, but Reid wasn't really feeling it anymore. No matter who was there with him, no matter what they were doing to try and reassure him, it wasn't going to work.

"I can't do this," Reid whispered, so quiet that only Morgan had heard him. He looked over at his lover, concerned.

"Reid?" he said, the question clear in his voice. The others all stopped talking, turning to look at Reid.

"I can't do this," Reid repeated, loud enough that everyone had heard him this time. "I can't be here. I'm sorry." Without looking at Gideon or anyone else, Reid rose hurriedly from his seat and almost ran out of the café, quickly disappearing from sight.

Morgan looked around at the others. "I'll go after him," he told them, before chasing after Reid.

He found Reid down the street, leaning with his back against the car and holding his head in his hands. "Spencer?" he whispered gently. "Spencer, are you okay?" When Reid didn't reply, Morgan moved closer to Reid and put a hand on his shoulder. "Pretty boy, talk to me."

"I thought I could handle it," Reid said in a small voice. "I thought I was ready to see Gideon. I really did. But when I saw him, everything I felt when he left came back, and I- I just couldn't take it." Reid's voice broke, and he used the back of one of his hands to wipe his eyes. It was then that Morgan realised he was crying.

"Oh, baby…" Morgan pulled Reid into his arms and held him tight. "That's perfectly understandable. I know how you felt when Gideon left. How it reminded you of your father leaving."

Reid nodded against Morgan's chest. "I think it hurt me more the second time around," he said. "Because Gideon knew what my father did to me, and then he did the exact same thing. He knew how much it would hurt me, and he did it anyway."

Morgan continued to hold Reid to his chest, his arms wrapped around Reid tightly. He absolutely hated seeing Reid like this, in so much pain. He couldn't worry about anything else right now; all he wanted to do was comfort him, in whatever way would work. "Come on, pretty boy," he said. "I'm taking you home."

"To my place? Or yours?"

"Mine," said Morgan. "You're there often enough, quite a bit of your stuff is there. And I'm not leaving you alone right now."

Reid nodded against Morgan's chest, not even bothering to argue. "Okay." The way he said that single word, how small his voice was, made Morgan's heart break even more. He opened the car door for Reid, and helped him get into the front seat. It was a mark of how upset the younger man was that he didn't complain about Morgan helping him, and didn't protest that it made him look weak.

The entire drive to Morgan's place was silent. Reid, who would normally be rambling on or at least saying _something_ to Morgan, remained completely quiet. He just stared out the window, his elbow resting on the door and his hand resting on the side of his face. It was this silence that told Morgan that Reid was thinking about Gideon, and he was truly hurting.

"We're here, pretty boy," said Morgan when he pulled into his driveway, as Reid hadn't seemed to notice. Indeed, he appeared rather startled when Morgan spoke. He still didn't speak; just sat in his seat as Morgan came around to his door and opened it, taking his hand. Reid's hand was limp in Morgan's; he didn't link their fingers together like he normally did. Was this affecting Reid more than Morgan had originally thought?

Morgan led Reid into the house and sat him down on the couch. "Okay, talk to me," he said.

"What is there to talk about?" said Reid defensively. "I've already told you everything."

"_Spencer_, you know that's not gonna work on me," Morgan reminded him. "I know you better than anyone else on this planet. And besides, I'm your boyfriend and I love you. I want to help you, and I can't do that if I don't know exactly what's wrong."

"I told you everything, really," said Reid earnestly, and Morgan knew he was telling the truth this time. "He- he _knew_ what my father did; he _knew_ that he'd walked out on me and left nothing but a letter, never even calling to check up on me again! He knew how much that hurt me, and then he went and did it himself! I- I thought he cared about me, Derek. But I should've known he would leave. Everyone does eventually."

Reid looked down at his lap, and Morgan could tell he was fighting back tears. "Hey, Spencer," he whispered softly, taking Reid's chin in one hand and pushing it up gently so he could look Morgan in the eye. "Yes, people have left you in the past. Yes, Gideon left you. But there is one person who loves you more than anything else in the world, and they're not going anywhere."

"Who?" Reid asked, nonplussed.

"Who do you think, pretty boy?" said Morgan. "Me, of course. I am never going to leave you. I _promise_ you that."

"You know you can't promise that and be absolutely sure, Derek," Reid pointed out. "Especially with our job."

Morgan chuckled. "See, there you are. There's the genius I know and love. Okay, let me rephrase that then: I promise to never, ever leave you because I don't love you any more. I promise to never walk out on you. I promise to and least _try_ and not die because of our job. Is that better?"

Reid managed to give Morgan a small smile. "Better," he agreed. "Thanks."

"Anytime, pretty boy. Anytime," said Morgan. He then fell silent, as a thought struck him.

Reid, being as observant as he was, had noticed Morgan's pause. "What is it?" Reid asked, confused.

"I was going to wait, and see if you can find it, but I think now is the right time to tell you," said Morgan. "Check your messenger bag. The inside pocket."

Reid had no idea what was going on, but he did as Morgan asked. When he pulled out a silver key he studied it, confused. "What's this?"

"It's a key to my house," said Morgan, waiting for Reid to realise the implications of what Morgan had said. It took him a few moments, but eventually he looked from the key to Morgan, shock and wonder evident on his face. "Is this… does this mean what I think it means?" he managed to get out.

"If you think it means that I'm asking you to move in with me, then yes, it's exactly what you think it means," Morgan replied. "You're here all the time, pretty boy, way more often then you're at your own apartment. And I really, really want you to move in with me."

"I want to move in with you too, Derek," Reid agreed. "But…"

"But what?" said Morgan. "C'mon, just tell me."

"But what about Strauss?" Reid finished. "If we move in together, she's gonna find out about us. She'll be furious, Derek."

"Not if we tell everyone other than the team a different story, she won't," Morgan said. "Listen, your lease on your apartment is about to run out, right?" Reid nodded. "So just say you can't find anywhere else to live, so you have no choice but to stay with me."

"That explanation not going to hold up forever," said Reid.

"Spencer, you're starting to make it sound like you _don't_ want to live with me," said Morgan, his tone joking but his heart hoping that he was wrong.

"No, no, no, no, that's not what I meant!" Reid protested. "I'm just saying, that after a while we're either going to have to report our relationship, or come up with a better explanation as to why I'm living with you. I just don't want it to expose us before we're ready, that's all." Reid took a deep breath. "Derek, you have no idea how _happy_ I was when I realised what that key meant; when I realised that you actually wanted to live with me."

"So that's a yes, then?" said Morgan, hope rising in his chest.

"That's most definitely a yes," Reid replied, a wide grin spreading across his face.

An identical grin spread across Morgan's face, and he was unable to stop himself from closing the gap between him and Reid and pulling him into a passionate kiss. Reid, with his emotions still raw, latched on to Morgan, unwilling to pull away even for a second. He ran his hands down Morgan's bare arms, amazed by the electricity he could feel under his fingers. He felt it every time he touched Morgan, even at the slightest brush of skin. Yearning for it even more, Reid slid his hands under Morgan's shirt and traced them along the older man's taut stomach, drawing small patterns with his fingertips across the bare skin.

Morgan, on the other hand, had almost frozen at Reid's touch. He knew what happened when Reid got like this, this sudden clinginess and the pure heat in his gaze. He knew what it led to. And given what had happened that day, Morgan had not been expecting this, but he wasn't going to refuse the other man's advances. That would be certifiably insane. Reid may have been inexperienced in comparison to himself, but he was not bad in bed. In fact, he was getting to be incredibly good. Being a genius had its benefits and being a very fast learner was one of them.

As soon as Morgan had recovered from the shock he pressed his lips even more fiercely to Reid's, one hand cupping the side of Reid's face and the other one snaking around his back. "Damn, pretty boy…" Morgan breathed. "Pull it off me." When Reid didn't react straight away, in fact pulling away with an adorable puzzled pout, Morgan repeated, "My shirt, baby. Pull it off."

Reid nodded, immediately pulling Morgan's shirt over his head. Even though he'd seen it before, he still marvelled out the sight of Morgan's naked chest, and the fact that he was allowed to look at all.

Morgan noticed Reid staring, and gave him his usual lecherous grin. "You like what you see, pretty boy?"

"You know I do," said Reid, a husky tone to his usually innocent voice. "Now stop talking and take my clothes off already."

Morgan laughed, but did exactly as Reid asked him to. "You have no idea what you do to me, pretty boy…" he whispered as he ever-so-slowly unbuttoned Reid's shirt. Too slowly for Reid, who made a low growling sound in his throat.

"Derek…" He was growing impatient. He needed this. "Derek, please. Don't make me do it myself."

Almost laughing again, but realising it would only succeed in dampening the mood, Morgan proceeded to almost rip Reid's shirt off, neither of them caring that the last few buttons had gone rolling across the room.

"Oh, god, Spencer…" Morgan almost moaned. "Every time I look at you, I-"

"Get even harder than you already are?" Reid finished with a smirk. His hands slowly slid into Morgan's pants, tantalisingly stroking the older man's already raging hard-on.

"Screw the foreplay," Morgan growled. He reached out, and with the precision he had acquired over the past few months, quickly unbuttoned Reid's pants and slid them down.

"Take me to your bed, Derek," said Reid.

"_Our_ bed," Morgan corrected.

"Right. Our bed. Take me to our bed." And with that, Morgan swept Reid up bridal style and carried him to their now-shared bedroom. Both men knew they wouldn't be getting any sleep that night.

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><p><strong>AN: So how about that? A little bit angsty, and even a tiny little taste of Morgan and Reid sexy times in the end there! :P I'm thinking next chapter the boys may be having a talk with Jordan- I wonder what's going to happen? Oh, and Elle's probably going to make another appearance- don't think I've mentioned her in a while.**

**Note from Diamond Cobra: "I'm kinda proud. Our little Eternal is growing up so fast. She wrote almost all of the ending scene herself. It may not be full-on smut, but, for someone who gets so awkward just thinking about it, it's certainly a start. I'm totally corrupting her :3" (It's true, I wrote most of the ending myself- are you proud of me? :P)**

**Time to review guys- you know you want to :P**


	10. Apologies and Confrontations

**A/N: So Morgan and Reid are finally going to talk to Jordan in this chapter guys... I wonder what's going to happen? And yes, Elle does crop up again too...  
>Oh, and I still have my poll up on my profile about whether or not I should write a ReidMorgan mpreg, if you haven't voted yet please do!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

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><p>When Reid entered the office the next morning, he was fully aware that the eyes of the rest of the team were on him. "It's okay, pretty boy," Morgan whispered. "You don't have to tell them about why you ran out yesterday. You don't have to tell them anything if you don't want to."<p>

"I know," said Reid. "But they're probably going to ask, and you know I'm no good at keeping secrets."

"You managed to keep our relationship a secret from the team until we were ready," Morgan pointed out. "And nobody else knows yet."

"That's a completely different situation, Derek," said Reid. "They all saw me run out of the café yesterday. They all _know_ that something's wrong."

"Spencer, they won't make you tell them what's going on if you don't want them to," said Morgan. "They're our friends, they'll respect that."

Reid was saved from saying anything more by their arrival at their desks, and seeing JJ standing there talking to Prentiss. "Morning, boys," Prentiss said cautiously.

"Oh, good morning, Prentiss," Morgan replied, flashing Prentiss an easy grin.

"Oh, god, you've got that 'I had sex last night' look," Prentiss groaned. "I think I just threw up a little in my mouth."

"Prentiss, don't be so harsh!" said JJ, but with a tone of laughter to her voice.

"She's right, though," said Morgan with a grin and a wink in Reid's direction. "My pretty boy is hard to resist. Yes, I did have sex last night. Several times."

"Derek!" Reid exclaimed, his face turning bright red. "Do you have to tell them that?"

"You know I do, Spence, you know I do," Morgan laughed.

"Okay, moving on," said JJ, "Jordan wants to talk to you two. She's in my office."

Reid and Morgan looked at each other, then back at JJ, their joking moment forgotten. "Did she tell you what she wanted to talk about?" Morgan asked.

JJ shook her head. "She didn't tell me," she said. "She just said she really needed to talk to you guys. She looked like she meant it, too."

"I guess we're going to go talk to Jordan, then," said Morgan. "C'mon, Spencer." He clapped a hand on Reid's shoulder. "Let's talk to her now, before we start working."

Reid nodded, following Morgan across the bullpen and up to JJ's office. Morgan knocked on the open door, outwardly displaying a confidence and an easiness that he didn't actually feel. "Jordan? JJ said you wanted to talk to us?"

Jordan looked up from the file she had been studying, startled. "Morgan, Reid, yes," she said. "Please, come in."

The two men entered the office and immediately sunk into the chairs opposite the desk. "What did you want to talk about?" Morgan asked.

"I… I actually wanted to apologise," Jordan said, shocking both men. "The- the way I acted when you told me about your relationship… well, there's no other way to put it, really; it was kinda mean."

"Jordan, you don't have to-" Reid began, but Jordan cut him off.

"Yes, I do, Reid," she said. "If not for you, then at least for me. I was telling the truth when I said I wasn't against your relationship. I was just shocked, and because of that, I reacted badly. I am truly sorry about that."

"We know you are, Jordan," said Morgan sincerely, and then he smirked at her. "We are profilers, remember?"

Even Jordan had to smile at that. "I do, yes," she said. She fell silent again for a moment, studying Morgan and Reid. "You know, JJ was right," she mused.

Morgan and Reid gave each other a confused look, before turning back to face Jordan. "Right about what?" said Reid.

"She said you were so much happier with each other than you'd ever been before," Jordan answered. "And she was right. Even though I only worked with you guys for a brief period before, I definitely did not see you as happy as this. You two must really love each other."

"We do," said Morgan, squeezing Reid's hand. "And we are. We are very happy, and we are very much in love."

"I don't know how anyone couldn't be accepting of something that could make two people so happy," said Jordan. "And Dr Reid, I am sincerely sorry for every way that I insulted you when you told me about you two. I know my shock at Morgan being with you was an insult, and I'm sorry. The more I thought about it, the more I could see how believable it is that the two of you could be together. I know the way I reacted was wrong, and I'm sorry."

"Thank you for saying that, Jordan, really," said Morgan.

"Certainly makes me feel better after yesterday," Reid added, but immediately closed his mouth afterwards. He'd already said too much.

Luckily, Jordan seemed to realise this, or at least realised she'd done enough damage previously that it wouldn't be a good idea to pry. Morgan realised this too, and rose from his seat. "Thanks for telling us that, Jordan," he said again, looking pensively at his younger lover, worried for him. "It definitely puts us at ease."

"I'm glad you're happy," said Jordan. "Really."

"Thanks, Jordan," said Reid, offering Jordan a smile before rising from his seat and following Morgan out of the office.

When they headed back down into the bullpen, JJ was still there talking to Prentiss, sitting on the edge of her desk. Both women looked up when they saw Reid and Morgan approach them. "What did she say?" JJ asked.

"She apologised," said Morgan. "She apologised for the way she reacted when Spencer and I told her about us. And she said you were right, JJ. When you said we were so much happier now than before we were together. She was really, really sorry."

"Well, I'm glad she apologised," Prentiss spoke up. "Now there's no more tension around here."

"Same here. I'm glad too," said Reid, although he was still rather distracted. Suddenly, he looked up at JJ. "Hey, JJ, you don't have a change of address form or something like that, do you?" he asked.

"Yeah…" JJ replied slowly, looking confused. "What for?"

"Oh, my lease on my apartment is almost up," said Reid. "So I have to move out."

"You found somewhere else to live?" JJ asked.

Reid nodded. "Oh, uh, yeah," he stammered. "A friend of mine is renting me out a place." He shot Morgan a look, seeing he was about to open his mouth.

"Oh. Are you going to be happy living there?" said JJ.

Reid smiled warmly. "Yes, I am," he replied. "Most definitely."

JJ and Prentiss looked at each other, rather confused, but then shrugged it off. "I'll get that form for you, Spence," JJ said, before heading back to her office and Prentiss turned back around to her desk.

"At least that distracted them from yesterday," Morgan whispered in Reid's ear before sitting down at his own desk. "And we're talking later, okay?"

Knowing exactly what Morgan wanted to talk about, Reid nodded before turning around to face his desk. He'd barely managed to start work on the first folder, however, when his phone began to ring. He glanced down at it, confused, when he didn't recognise the caller ID.

"Who is it?" Morgan asked.

"No idea," said Reid, pressing the send button on his phone. "Hello?"

"Reid?" said a voice. "It's Elle. Can we talk?"

"I'm at work," said Reid, his eyes growing wide. "So now's probably not the best time."

"Of course," said Elle. "Can we talk later?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess," said Reid. "Uh, you could probably come by my house later…" He told her his address, while Morgan and Prentiss threw him confused looks. "Can I ask you something, though? Why are you calling me and not one of the others?"

"You were the only one I knew for sure would not have changed his mobile number," Elle replied. "And you definitely seemed to be the most happy to see me out of everyone."

"That's probably true," Reid admitted. "But I don't exactly want to tell you the reason for that over the phone, in the middle of the bullpen."

"I guess I'll see you later then," said Elle. "Bye." And she hung up the phone.

"Okay, pretty boy, spill," Morgan demanded as soon as Reid hung up. "Who on earth was that?"

"It was, uh…" Reid struggled to get the name out; he was so confused as to why she had called him.

"Tell me, Spencer," said Morgan. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Oh yeah, 'cause I'm sure that's a real threat," Prentiss interjected. "He probably _wants_ you to hurt him!"

"Prentiss!" Reid exclaimed, shocked. His face turned bright red again. "I- I don't know how to counter that without embarrassing myself even more," he admitted.

"He means that I'm never so rough as to hurt him like that," said Morgan bluntly, causing both Reid and Prentiss to let out shocked gasps, "but stop trying to change the subject, Spencer. _Who_ just called you?"

"It was Elle," Reid finally managed to say. His two fellow agents fell completely silent, trying to figure out what to say.

"What did she want?" Morgan asked.

"She just wants to talk to me," Reid replied. "She said she called me because I'm the one that was most accepting of her return out of everyone. Prentiss, Rossi and Jordan excepted of course, because they never met her before."

"So she's going to meet you at your house, then?" said Morgan, shooting Reid a meaningful look.

"The house that I still technically live in at the moment, until I've moved out properly," Reid clarified.

Morgan opened his mouth to say something more, but realising that Prentiss was sitting right there and listening in made him stop. No one broached the subject of Elle again that day, or Jordan or Gideon. Hotch did head down from his office at one stage to give the three agents some files, and Rossi came down to ask them some questions for a consult, and both men looked like they wanted to say something to Reid, but after meaningful looks from Morgan both of the older agents said nothing.

When the working day started to draw to a close, Reid finally set aside his last file. Normally he'd have finished a lot faster, but he'd definitely been distracted that day. "I guess I'm out of here," he sighed, rising from his seat. "See you later, Prentiss."

"See you." Prentiss replied. Reid turned to leave, but after a moment turned back around.

"You coming, Derek, or not?" he asked.

Morgan couldn't help but be a little bit stunned by Reid's words. "You still want me to come over tonight?" he said. "Even though Elle's coming to talk to you?"

"I want you there, Derek," Reid confirmed. "It will be easier for me to talk to her if you're there."

"And if she asks questions? About why I'm there?"

"We don't have to tell her," said Reid. "And besides, you drove me into work this morning. Even if you weren't going to stay, you at least have to drop me off."

"Touché, Spence," said Morgan. "Let's go then."

"What time is Elle coming?" Morgan asked when they pulled up outside Reid's apartment.

"No idea," said Reid as they headed up the stairs. "I just know that she's coming to see me tonight?"

"So we have time?" Morgan whispered, slowly closing the gap between him and Reid. Reid didn't try to close the gap himself, but he didn't back away, either.

"She could be here any minute…" Reid warned.

"Baby, I don't give a damn," said Morgan, wrapping his arms around Reid's slender waist.

"What the hell is going on here?" Elle demanded.

Reid and Morgan sprang apart and turned to face Elle, who was standing in the doorway with a look of utter confusion and shock on her face. It was just lucky she hadn't walked in five seconds later, or she would've seen their lips locked and their hands groping each other. As it was they were only hugging, but in a rather intimate way, with their arms around each other's waists and Morgan's hands drifting dangerously close to Reid's ass. The situation she had caught them in would definitely raise Elle's suspicions and probably cause a rather large dose of confusion. They would have to think fast.

"Elle! We- we can explain!" Reid spluttered, looking anywhere but at Morgan.

Morgan, too, was rather unsure. "How did you get in here?" he asked.

"Reid's front door was unlocked," Elle replied. "You've really got to be more careful with that. So what is going on?"

"Nothing's going on, Elle," said Morgan defensively.

Elle didn't believe him in the slightest. "Come off it, Morgan," she scoffed. "I _was_ a profiler. I know you're lying."

Morgan sighed and turned to face Reid. The younger man was still unsure, but nodded at Morgan, shooting him a look that said, _she was going to find out anyway_. "You're right, Elle," he admitted. "There is something going on between me and Spencer."

"I'll say," said Elle. "For one thing, you just called Reid by his first name. You never did that before. And you were hugging when I walked in. Reid, you _never_ let anyone hug you- especially the way you two were. And every time I've seen you, you two have been together. Have you really become that close friends?"

"More than friends, actually," Morgan admitted. He moved back towards Reid, and laced their fingers together.

Elle stared at them, eyes popping out of their sockets. "No way," she breathed. "The two of you are together?" Reid and Morgan nodded. "Like boyfriends?"

"Well… yeah," said Reid, unsure of what else to say. Morgan gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, and Reid turned and smiled at him.

"This isn't just some joke that Morgan made up?" said Elle.

Morgan shook his head. "No. I love him, Elle," he confessed.

Elle focused her gaze on Reid. "And what about you?" she asked him.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Reid stammered.

"How do you feel about Morgan?" Elle clarified.

"I… if I was being honest with myself, I think I've been falling for Derek since the day we first met," Reid confessed. "I love him more than I ever thought possible."

"This is really serious," Elle realised as she watched Morgan and Reid, seeing how close together they were standing, how they gravitated towards each other without even thinking. "Do the team know?"

Morgan nodded. "Not at first. JJ always knew, and the situation came up where we had to tell Garcia. But eventually we felt it was time for the team to know," he explained.

"How the _hell_ did this happen?" Elle exclaimed, slightly incredulously.

Reid opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again when he saw Morgan's expression. "It was closed off, guarded. "I don't think Derek wants to tell you anymore," Reid realised.

Elle looked confused. "Why?" she asked.

"Because you left us, Elle," Morgan replied shortly. "You gave up that right to know those things about me when you did that."

"Derek…" Reid whispered cautiously, almost timidly.

Morgan turned to look at Reid. "I'm sorry, Spence. I just… I'm not ready to forgive her just yet."

Reid sighed. "I understand." He turned back to face Elle, whose expression was both confused and a little hurt. "Why did you want to talk to us?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Gideon," said Elle, causing Reid to take a step back in shock. "He came to me, knowing that we're both in the same situation. Knowing that we're both trying to work our way back into the team's good books. He wanted my help."

"He wants your help getting back into _my_ good books specifically, doesn't he?" Reid realised. "He should know that it's not going to happen that easily."

"He does know that, Reid," said Elle. "He also knows that you won't accept any calls from him, so he asked me to pass on a message."

"What kind of message?" Reid asked wearily.

"He says he realises he hurt you, and he's terribly sorry," said Elle. "And he knows it make take you some time, but he hopes you can at least talk."

"He's right about it taking time," said Reid almost angrily. "He can't expect me to welcome him back into my life so easily."

"Okay, now I'm curious," said Elle. "You and Gideon were close, Reid. He was your mentor; like a surrogate father to you. What did he do that was so bad?"

Reid just shook his head, looking down at his feet while trying to fight back the tears that now threatened to burst forth. Morgan moved forward and wrapped his arms around Reid protectively, shooting Elle an angry look. "Elle, he doesn't want to talk about Gideon, okay?" he hissed. "Gideon hurt him, simple as that. If you want to know how, ask the man yourself."

"He wouldn't tell me, Morgan," said Elle. "And I don't really feel comfortable hearing that from anyone other than Reid himself."

"Well thank you, Elle," said Morgan, a little surprised. He still refused to let Reid go, however, holding the younger man to his side.

"Can I… can I ask you a different question, though?" Elle asked, a little bit scared by the threatening look on Morgan's face.

"Depends on what it is," said Morgan.

"Why were you so ready to welcome me back, Reid? Why was it so easy for you?" said Elle.

"Because he still feels guilty, Elle!" Morgan exclaimed. "He still feels guilty about the fact that he talked to you that night, before you went out and shot Lee, and he knew something was wrong with you, and he couldn't stop you from doing anything! He blamed himself!"

"Reid, I had no idea…"

"You should have," said Morgan. "You knew Reid. You should have known he would've felt so guilty. Did you ever think about the rest of us in _anything_ that you did?"

"Derek!" Reid cried, gripping his boyfriend's arm and turning him around to face him. "Derek, it's fine. Don't worry about it, please." He turned to face Elle. "I'm sorry about him. He's just trying to protect me. It can get annoying, sometimes."

"He only does it because he loves you, Reid," said Elle with a small smile, that fact blatantly obvious now she had seen the two men in close quarters. "Well, I've done what I came here for. I'll just tell Gideon that you need more time."

"See you later, Elle," said Reid. "Oh, and can you not tell Gideon about Derek and I, please? I'm definitely not ready for him to know just yet." Elle gave them both a small nod and a wave, and turned and walked out of the apartment.

Even after Elle had disappeared, Morgan was still feeling rather angry. Reid ran his hands gently down Morgan's arms, trying to calm him down. He knew Reid was right. He knew he shouldn't have snapped at Elle. But he'd just been so _angry_ that Elle hadn't realised what her departure had done to Reid, that she hadn't realised how guilty Reid would have felt, that he had snapped. He hadn't been able to stop himself from yelling at her; it had been his natural instinct to defend Reid.

"Spencer, I am so sorry," Morgan said after a while. "I shouldn't have gotten like that, I-"

"Derek, it's okay," Reid said again. He reached up and stroked Morgan's cheek gently. "You were just trying to protect me, yeah?"

Morgan nodded. "Yeah, I was," he admitted. "And, well… I was hurt by her leaving, and by what she did… I guess I'm just not ready to forgive her just yet."

"I understand," said Reid. "I think I was rather close to telling her about Gideon, anyway. And I'm not ready to do that."

"We've got to figure something out though, baby," Morgan warned. "They're not just going to go away."

"I know," Reid sighed. "But for now, can we just focus on packing up all my stuff to move it into your house? I have boxes in my study."

"It's _our_ house now," Morgan correct, a huge grin on his face. "But yes, we can do that. I'll get the boxes, and then we can figure out what we want to go in where."

Reid smiled and followed Morgan out of the room, trying to focus his mind on the task at hand, and work as hard as he could to forget about Elle and Gideon, at least for the time being.

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><p><strong>AN: Okay, so now Elle knows about Reid and Morgan, hmm... That's actually not how I originally planned the chapter to go, I didn't plan on Morgan yelling at Elle actually. Stupid muse. Oh well, I think it worked better this way, don't you?**

**Note from Diamond Cobra: It's late and I apologise for any errors I may have missed. My mind wasn't exactly sharp when I was checking this over. If you spot any, feel free to point them out in a review and call me names. I won't get offended I promise. In fact, that applies to any chapter. Insult me when I screw up XD. (Seriously guys, she beta-ed this at 1 in the morning, when I'd already been asleep for 2 and a half hours...)**

**Reviews, guys? You know you want to!**


	11. Moving in Together, or Do I Call Her?

**A/N: So I've finally got a new chapter for you, guys! This chapter brings the team into it a little bit more- well, Prentiss, Garcia and Hotch, anyway. I'm thinking I need a little bit more Rossi, he's barely in this thing. Well, probably because I don't know how well I can write him... okay, now I'm rambling, sorry!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

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><p>It was several days later before Reid had finally packed up all of his stuff and began moving it into Morgan's. He only had a few boxes left to move, which Morgan was planning on picking up after work that day. The only times Reid had returned to his own apartment was to pack all of his belongings; it didn't really feel like home any more. It was Morgan's house- <em>their<em> house now- that felt like home to him.

Reid and Morgan had focused all their energy on moving everything Reid owned, but thoughts of Elle and Gideon were still at the back of their minds. Morgan had begun to realise that maybe he shouldn't have snapped at Elle; he was always making hasty decisions, but he knew he wasn't ready to forgive her quite yet. Reid, every time he thought about Gideon, could only think about how much the older man had hurt him. He knew he needed to talk to him- but he didn't know whether he could do it. Not yet, anyway.

Elle had emailed Reid once since she'd shown up at his house- she'd sent him her phone number, and said that whenever he or Morgan was ready to talk, she was ready too. Reid knew that Elle had realised that he didn't need to talk with her on his own, but he and Morgan needed to talk with her. Together. And he also knew that she would be the 'middle woman' whenever he finally decided to get in contact with Gideon.

Their packing and moving had been interrupted, of course, by a case. It had been out of the state this time, in Kansas. Luckily it had only taken them a few days, and they had landed back in Quantico rather quickly. After that Reid finally got the time to pack up the last of his possessions, fill out his change of address forms, and finish moving in with Morgan.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" said Morgan, standing with an arm around Reid's waist and admiring their now shared bedroom.

"What does?" Reid asked.

"Knowing that you're finally moved in," said Morgan with a grin. "That we actually live together now."

"Oh," said Reid, and a smile crossed his face. "Yes, that does feel good. This isn't just your house anymore. It's _our_ house."

As if to illustrate that point, Morgan's dog Clooney came running into the room, skidding along the floor and stopping at Reid's feet. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth as he panted heavily, and he looked up at Reid with a big, goofy grin on his face. "I think he's welcoming you," Morgan laughed.

Reid knelt down and began patting Clooney hesitantly. "I still don't think he likes me sometimes."

"He just wasn't used to you, pretty boy," said Morgan. "And besides, we have the 'Reid Effect' to remember. Although," he added, a thoughtful look on his face, "I'm of the opinion that the Reid Effect will very soon be no more. I think it's wearing off."

"You do?"

"Definitely," said Morgan. "You were amazing with Henry in the park the other day, and Clooney definitely loves you. I'd say it wouldn't be long until the Reid Effect ceases to exist at all."

"Hmm." Reid just crouched there, absent-mindedly scratching Clooney behind the ears. "D'you want Clooney inside or out?" To save themselves the hassle of having the dog interrupt them in the bedroom, the couple had taken to putting the dog outside- or at least locking him in the laundry. They'd already been interrupted once before, and they didn't want to risk it happening again. Reid feared they had traumatised the poor animal. He had spent a week after the first time growling whenever Reid even attempted to approach his boyfriend. It had taken a lot of persuasion, on both Reid and Morgan's parts, and the use of many a treat to end that phase. Since then, Reid and Clooney's relationship had been improving slowly, but surely.

"Inside, for now," Morgan answered. "We're not planning on going to bed yet, are we?"

Reid shook his head. "I was thinking we could watch a movie, actually," he suggested. "Just relax. I think I really need that right now."

Morgan smiled. "I like the sound of that," he said. "But I'm not watching Star Wars again."

"Derek!" Reid exclaimed, and then he sighed. "Fine. Mission Impossible, then?"

"You just want to stare at Tom Cruise," Morgan joked.

"Derek!" Reid exclaimed once more. "I do not! And besides," he added, leaning against Morgan's shoulder when he sat down on the couch next to Reid, "why would I even need to stare at Tom Cruise if I have you?"

Morgan laughed, pulling Reid even closer to his side as he pressed play on the remote. "Touché, baby. Touché."

Both of them fell silent after that, watching the movie, but at the same time just relaxing with each other, just happy to be able to hold each other and feel the other's touch without having to worry about anything else. About fifteen minutes into the movie Clooney jumped up onto the couch to join them, but neither man really minded; it just made them feel more relaxed, more at home.

"Hey, Spencer?" said Morgan after a while. "Can I ask you something?" Reid nodded against Morgan's chest, not bothering to look up. "The other day, when you asked JJ for the change of address form, why didn't you tell her and Prentiss that you were moving in with me?"

"I didn't want to tell them until I'd actually moved in," said Reid. "Plus, they'd make a big deal out of it, and I hate that. I just want them to find out naturally. I'm not the type of person who has to announce to everyone that I'm moving in with my boyfriend. I mean, I get that you are, and that's okay, really- I don't resent that or anything. It's just-"

"Spence! Spencer!" Morgan cried, putting a finger to Reid's lips and effectively shutting him up. "I understand. It's okay. Really."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure," Morgan assured him. "Now let's get back to the movie."

When Reid walked into the office the next day Reid felt that someone was watching him. He looked around for the owner of said eyes, his brain telling him he was just being paranoid, to see Garcia standing at the top of the railing, having just emerged from JJ's office.

"Why is Garcia staring at you?" Morgan asked.

"I have no idea," Reid confessed. As he looked up at her, she beckoned to him with one hand and walked back into her own office. "I guess she wants me to go talk to her."

"Be careful, pretty boy," Morgan warned. "You never know with Garcia."

Reid sighed, casting Morgan a quick glance before following Garcia to her office. "Garcia?" he said rather tentatively. "Did you want to talk to me or something?"

"Yes, I did," said Garcia, spinning around in her chair. "What is this I see about your new address?"

"Oh, well, I had to move out of my apartment because my lease is up, so-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, boy wonder, that is not what I meant, and you know it," said Garcia. "What I meant is this." She gestured towards her computer screens, where Reid could see his and Morgan's matching addresses. Reid swallowed deeply. He knew Garcia had access to all of their personal information; it was part of her job description. He should've realised that she would find out where he now lived. "Why did you not tell me that you had moved in with Morgan?"

"No real reason, Garcia," said Reid. "I just didn't want to make a big deal out of this, that's all. I didn't want, or need, to announce it to everyone."

"I understand, Reid," said Garcia with a huge grin on her face. "I totally understand, completely. But since I know now, I believe I owe you some congratulations." She leapt out of her chair and threw her arms around Reid, hugging him tightly. "My boy genius and my chocolate Adonis, living together. Who would've thought it?"

Reid smiled, carefully extricating himself from Garcia's arms. "Yeah. Who would've thought that the geeky, socially awkward genius Doctor Spencer Reid would end up with one of the kindest, strongest, bravest, best-looking men on the planet?"

Garcia laughed. "While all of those descriptions definitely fit our chocolate thunder god, _you_ have to stop selling yourself short," she said, jabbing at Reid with a finger. "You and Morgan are perfect for each other. Stop thinking that you aren't good enough for him, because you are."

"Derek says that too," said Reid.

"See, then it must be true," said Garcia. "Now go. Get back to work, before Hotch gets mad at both of us."

Reid headed back into the bullpen and sunk into his seat, sighing heavily. "What's up, Spence?" Morgan asked.

"She knows," said Reid. "Garcia knows."

Prentiss looked very confused. "Garcia knows about what?"

Reid looked to Morgan and back to Prentiss before speaking. "You can't tell anybody else, all right? We just want it to come out on its own."

When Prentiss nodded, Morgan continued, "Spencer didn't just move into an apartment his friend is renting out. He moved in with me."

"Seriously?" Prentiss exclaimed. "You guys!"

"Ssh, Prentiss!" Reid hissed, flapping his hands. "Not so loud!"

Prentiss, realising where they were, looked at Reid apologetically. "Sorry. But seriously, congratulations."

Morgan beamed proudly. "Thanks, Prentiss." If Morgan was honest with himself, he could hardly believe that Reid was moving in with him. He'd thought that Reid would baulk, or say no, or come up with some rambling excuse as to why him moving in was not a good idea (well, technically he had given Morgan reasons why it wasn't a good idea, but at the same time as saying yes). He'd never anticipated how _happy_ Reid had been when Morgan had asked him to move in. He loved being the one that made Reid happy like that, and he knew right then and there that he wanted to spend the rest of his life making that happen.

"Earth to Agent Morgan, are you in there?" Prentiss said loudly, waving her hand in front of Morgan's face.

Morgan shook his head, pulling himself back to reality. "Sorry, I was just thinking," he muttered.

Prentiss laughed. "Geez, you _have_ been spending too much time with Reid! Keep thinking so much, and you're going to turn into him!"

"I wouldn't mind," Morgan said softly, his gaze drifting towards Reid. "I wouldn't mind at all."

"I don't mean to interrupt your moment, because it's really adorable, slightly creepy, but adorable nonetheless, but Hotch and Rossi are heading down here," said Prentiss.

Reid and Morgan turned back to their desks quickly, opening the first file and beginning to work. The rest of the day passed in a haze of routine, working on file after file after file. Towards the end of the day, however, Reid pulled out his phone and stared at it, thinking.

"You know, staring at it isn't going to make anything happen, Spencer," said Morgan.

"I know," Reid sighed.

"Okay, what's going on in that bring ol' brain of yours?" Morgan asked.

"I was… I want to call Elle, and have her call Gideon for me," Reid admitted.

"You do!" Morgan exclaimed. "Spencer-"

"Derek, now's not the time for this," Reid hissed. "Can we talk about it when we get home?"

Morgan sighed and nodded, and Reid turned back to his paperwork. The older man knew, though, that he wasn't going to let this go. He was going to ask Reid why he wanted to talk to Gideon now.

An hour later, Morgan headed up to Hotch's office to hand in some of his files. Just as he turned to walk out the door, Hotch said, "Morgan? Can I talk to you for a second?"

Slightly confused, Morgan nodded and moved back into the room. "What did you want to talk about?" Morgan asked.

"I was wondering how you and Reid were going," said Hotch.

"Are you asking as our boss, or as our friend?" said Morgan cautiously.

"A bit of both," Hotch replied. "But I am genuinely curious, Morgan. How are you going?"

"We're going well, Hotch," said Morgan. "Really, really well. I'm genuinely happy with him."

"Do you love him?" Hotch asked.

"More than anything else in the world," Morgan answered without hesitation.

"And are you serious about him?" said Hotch. "Because Morgan, you know how much he's been hurt in the past. If you break his heart, he'll never be able to trust anyone again."

"Hotch, that's never going to happen," Morgan promised. "You know how I know I'm serious about him? The other day we were in the park, and JJ showed up with Will and Henry. When I was looking at Spencer holding Henry, all I could think about was how I hated that we could never have our own, biological children, and how much I would love having children with him. _That's_ how I know I will never break Spencer Reid's heart. Because, after only four months, I can already see my future with him."

"Well, that is definitely serious," Hotch agreed. He hesitated for a moment. "And, um… what is Reid doing about Gideon?"

"He actually wants to call Elle tonight, and have her get in contact with Gideon for him," Morgan confessed. "He wants to talk to him."

"He thinks he's ready?"

Morgan nodded. "He thought he was ready last time, and he ended up running out of the café," he pointed out. "What if he's wrong again?"

"Then you'll be there for him," said Hotch. "Morgan, he _needs_ to talk to Gideon. I know you know that. It's the only way he's going to truly move on from Gideon's departure."

Morgan sighed. "I know. I just- it hurts him to see Gideon. And I can't _stand_ seeing him like that."

"Which is why you will be there for him," Hotch insisted. "Let him do this, Morgan."

"But he doesn't want Gideon to find out about us," said Morgan. "And neither do I, to be honest. How can I be there for Reid if we can't show Gideon what there really is between us?"

"You don't have to show him," said Hotch. "You were always Reid's best friend. Gideon knows that. You just being there will be enough for Reid."

Morgan sighed. "I hope you're right Hotch. I really hope you're right." He turned to leave the room again, but stopped as a thought struck him. "Hey, what happened after Spencer and I left the café, anyway?"

"We just talked," Hotch replied. "Some of what's been happening around here since we left, some of what he's been doing. Some of how we felt about him leaving. We didn't tell him anything about you or Reid, though. He asked, but we didn't want to say."

"Thank you, Hotch." With one last smile for his boss, Morgan turned and headed back to the bullpen.

"You were gone for a while," Reid commented when Morgan sat back down.

"Hotch wanted to talk to me," said Morgan. "It was nothing serious," he added when Reid looked worried. "He- well, he wanted to talk about you, actually."

"About me?" Reid was both confused and worried. That was the last thing he had expected Morgan to say. "Why were you talking about me?"

"Hotch… he wanted to know how serious I was about you," Morgan admitted. "I told him very."

"Really?" Reid blushed pink, and Prentiss turned away and studiously ignored the two of them.

"He also asked what you were planning on doing about Gideon," Morgan added. "He reckons you should call him. He reckons it will be good for you in the long run."

Reid sighed. "I know it would. I'll call Elle tonight, then."

When Morgan arrived home that night, nearly an hour after Reid (it had taken him a lot longer than the boy genius to finish his paperwork), he found Reid sitting on the couch, his phone sitting on the coffee table in front of him. He was staring at it, thinking, and didn't even notice Morgan come in.

"I thought I told you, staring at the phone isn't going to make anything happen, Spence," trying to lighten the mood and alert Reid to his presence.

Reid jumped, startled, and looked up at Morgan. "Wh-when did you come in?" he stammered.

"Just now," Morgan replied. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's not your fault," said Reid. "I was just… I don't know. My mind was elsewhere."

Morgan dropped his bag on the floor against the wall, and moved to sit on the couch beside Reid. "Have you called her yet?" he asked, gesturing towards the phone.

Reid shook her head. "Not yet. I've dialled her number ten times, but I haven't been able to find the courage to actually call."

Morgan sighed, putting a comforting hand on Reid's leg. "I have to ask you this, Spence, but are you _sure_ you're ready to talk to Gideon?" he said. "You don't have to talk to him if you're not ready. Hell, you never have to talk to him if you don't want to."

Reid shook his head. "No," he said. "No. I have to do this. I… I thought I'd moved on from Gideon leaving, but when I saw him at that café I knew that I hadn't. I need to talk to him, so I can at least move on. It's now or never."

Still, Reid didn't pick up his phone. He took a deep breath and reached for it, but he drew his hand back almost instantly. "Hey, pretty boy, hey. I'm right here, okay? And I'll be right there when you talk to Gideon, no matter what," Morgan whispered soothingly.

Reid looked back at Morgan. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean, what if Gideon finds out about us? I know I'm not ready for _that_, and I'm pretty sure you aren't either."

"Pretty boy, as long as I can be there for you, I don't give a damn whether or not Gideon finds out about us," Morgan declared. "Yeah, I'd rather him not, but I'm not going to not be there for you just because of that."

Reid looked at Morgan, not knowing what to say. Then, before his resolve could leave him, he picked up his phone and dialled. "Hey, Elle," he said in a small voice when she picked up. "I… can you call Gideon for me? Tell him I want to talk to him? This Sunday, work permitting." Reid blushed, his face tinged with red at something Elle said. "Yes, Derek will be there. I need him for this. Just- still don't tell him about us, okay? Thank you." Reid hung up the phone and set it down on the table, letting out a deep sigh.

"Are you okay?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know," Reid admitted. "I really don't know. I guess I'll just have to wait and see." He looked up at Morgan, a coy smile on his face. "I _do_ know how we can take our minds off that, though," he whispered.

"Baby, I thought you'd never ask," said Morgan, pushing Reid onto his back on the couch and leaning in for a very passionate kiss.

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><p><strong>AN: So there you go! I wonder what's going to happen with Gideon and Reid, because they're at least going to talk in the next chapter... Oh, and you know when I said this may hit 20 chapters? I _might_ have lied about that- I think I'm going to make it shorter, somewhere around 15-17 chapters. Because I REALLY wanna get on to the sequel to the sequel of this one, I'm looking forward to writing that one and you guys reading it!**

**Note from Diamond Cobra: "See if you can spot the lines I added in ;P" (She added in a few, I wonder if you can figure out which ones they are :P)**


	12. Moving On

**A/N: So finally a new chapter guys! And yes, this is the chapter where Reid _finally_ talks to Gideon. Let's see what the two of them- and Morgan, of course- have to say!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

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><p>"I don't think I've ever felt more nervous about the weekend then I do right now," Reid commented to Morgan on Friday afternoon.<p>

Morgan looked over at the genius, concerned. "You having second thoughts?" he said. "Because it's not too late to call Elle and get her to tell Gideon you're cancelling."

"No, no," said Reid quickly. "I'm not having second thoughts about doing this. I need to do this. But that doesn't change the fact that I am incredibly nervous."

"You can face down serial killers and psychopaths, but you're nervous about talking to your former boss. Says something about us," Morgan joked, trying to ease the mood. Reid managed to give him a small smile.

"And you can also face down serial killers and psychopaths, and kick down doors, but you can't finish some measly paperwork," Reid joked back.

Morgan made a shocked noise in his throat. "Wow, Spencer. Wow," he said.

"What?" said Reid, confused and a little panicky.

"There was a time, not too long ago, when you would never say a thing like that," Morgan explained. "You're becoming a tease."

"I blame you," said Reid, a smirk still on his face. "You're the biggest tease I know. Now are we going home, or are you going to stand there gaping at me?"

Morgan shook his head. "We're going home," he laughed. "Come on."

If Reid thought his nervousness wouldn't rise over the course of the weekend, he was horribly, horribly wrong. In fact, there were times when Reid almost picked up the phone, called Elle and told her he was cancelling; he was feeling that nervous. He couldn't remember ever feeling as anxious about anything in his life; not even his first day at the BAU, or even the first time he'd been interrogating a suspect solo. No, scratch that- Reid could remember only two times in his life he'd felt as nervous as this: when he'd told Morgan how he'd felt, and when he had told Morgan he was a virgin before the first time they had slept together. Both of those moments had had the potential to make or break Reid, and so did his meeting with Gideon.

Morgan had tried his hardest to distract Reid from his anxieties. Their joking mood when they were leaving work had vanished as soon as it had come, and try as he might Morgan could not bring it back.

He did try to distract Reid in other ways, though. Morgan's first choice of distraction would have been, of course, sex, but he knew that Reid would not be very receptive right now. Other times he would, most definitely. But not now.

So Morgan tried to distract Reid in the only other way he thought could possibly work: by getting the young genius to ramble off facts. Morgan knew that once he got Reid going, all he needed to do was sit back and not interrupt, nod in the right places and prompt him to keep speaking. And there were two sure-fire ways to get Reid to do this: watch documentaries, or watch Star Trek or Star Wars.

Despite the level of love Morgan had for Reid, he wasn't about to sit and watch a documentary with the man. Reid didn't expect him to, in the same way that Morgan never expected Reid to watch a football or a baseball game with him. So a documentary was out. Star Trek was out too; the last time they'd watched it, Morgan had fallen asleep against Reid's shoulder halfway through an episode. He wouldn't be able to stay awake long enough to keep Reid rambling about the physics of the show instead of dwelling on seeing Gideon.

So that left Star Wars. Morgan would never admit it to anyone (particularly Reid or Garcia, who would never let him live it down), but he secretly loved those space movies. Therefore watching them with anyone, especially Reid, wasn't actually a chore for Morgan. He definitely enjoyed it.

Reid, having no knowledge of this of course, was rather surprised when Morgan suggested they watch the movie Saturday afternoon. "_You_ want to watch Star Wars?" he said, his disbelief evident in his voice.

"Yeah," said Morgan. "What, you don't want to watch it?" He had a tone of feigned hurt in his voice.

"No, that's not what I meant at all!" said Reid quickly, but then he narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"What?" said Morgan, trying to keep a straight face and not give himself away.

"You never offer to watch Star Wars with me," said Reid. "Agree to it when I ask you, yes, but you never suggest it yourself." A spark of understanding lit up Reid's eyes. "You're trying to distract me, aren't you?" he realised. "So I don't think about seeing Gideon tomorrow."

"Maybe," said Morgan, a smirk on his face now that he had been caught out. "But you can't deny that you need it. So are we going to watch the movie, or not?"

"Of course we are," said Reid, now with a smile on his face. "I never said we weren't. But I'm warning you now, I'm going to 'ramble on', as you and the rest of the team often put it."

"Spencer, sometimes I may cut you off, but other times there is nothing I'd love more than to hear you speak," said Morgan sincerely.

A slight blush crept into Reid's cheeks, and he reached out and took Morgan's hand. "Well, then. Let's watch the movie."

Morgan didn't have to wait very long for Reid to start rambling. They'd only gotten twelve minutes into the movie, when Reid opened his mouth. "Star Wars is a masterpiece, as a collective the films have grossed over 4 billion dollars worldwide in the box office, not to mention the immense profits anything collectable that is linked to Star Wars can make," he began to explain.

"The music has also become an iconic piece of iconic life, with very few people not being able to recognise the Imperial March when they hear it.

"Not only that, but the movies were revolutionary for their time, each featuring top of the line special effects for that period.

"Did you know that the first movie is actually the fourth book? Yeah, the creators decided that the story was not only more engaging in the 4th but the special effects would be slightly easier to create. So the films actually go 4, 5, 6, then 1, 2, 3 with a later prequel being made.

Also, it is the only film in the world to create its own religion. In a recent UK census a large proportion of the British populations claimed that Jedi was their faith and that they followed the rules of the force.

"If that isn't an incredible franchise I don't know what is."

Morgan shook his head, chuckling softly. "Wow, pretty boy," he whispered. "You sure love those movies."

"They are my favourites," Reid agreed. "Now shush! I'm watching the movie!"

Morgan had to laugh again under his breath. Reid always got into movies when he was watching them, no matter how many times he had seen them before. Morgan had definitely chosen well- Star Wars was the perfect distraction for Reid from his nerves. Seeing Gideon tomorrow had been pushed into the far corners of Reid's mind, at least for now.

Morgan pulled Reid in closer to his side, and the younger man rested his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. Morgan pressed a gentle kiss to Reid's long, slightly unruly hair. "I love you, pretty boy," he whispered. "More than anything."

"I love you too, Der," Reid whispered. "More than I ever thought possible."

Morgan squeezed Reid tighter in his arms, and began absently stroking the genius's hair. "I know, baby. I know."

If Reid could've had his way, Sunday would never have come at all. But of course Reid couldn't control time (nobody could; the very idea that that could actually happen was ludicrous in his opinion), and he woke up that morning with a strong feeling of apprehension. He slowly climbed out of bed, careful not to wake Morgan, and padded softly across the carpeted floor into the lounge room.

Reid immensely appreciated all of Morgan's efforts to distract him from his nerves over the past few days; he knew that Morgan did it out of nothing more or less than love, and that it wouldn't do him any good to dwell on his worries. Now, though, he definitely had some things to think about.

Passing through the lounge room, Reid slowly pushed open the door to the study/mini library Morgan had set up for him. Opening the door to the cupboard in the back corner, Reid knelt down on the floor and pulled out a small box. He stared at it for a very long moment, almost dreading opening it and looking at what was inside. He knew that as soon as he looked at it, all those emotions and memories would come flooding back.

_No_, he told himself. _I have to do this. If I can't, there is no way I'll be able to see Gideon today_. So with shaking hands, Reid opened the box and gently lifted out the crumpled, yellowing piece of paper inside: Gideon's final letter to him.

Reid had read the letter over and over when Gideon had first left, taking Prentiss's advice and trying to figure out why Gideon had said goodbye to _him_, and only to him. It had taken him several read throughs- even though he had committed the entire thing to memory the first time he'd read it- before he had realised the meaning behind it. Gideon had said goodbye to Reid, because the young man he had taken under his wing was the only one who really needed a goodbye.

Reid hadn't touched the letter for a few months after that. He'd actually almost thrown it out, thinking that he didn't want or need it anymore, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. So he'd slipped it into the box and left the box in a drawer in his desk. He hadn't touched it for months; he tried not to even _think_ about it. Until he'd started craving again.

After Ryan Phillips had been killed right in front of Reid, and the memories of his lifeless face had filled Reid's thoughts and dreams, the cravings had begun to creep into his body again. Reid hadn't known what to do; he didn't think he'd be able to fight that again. Without even thinking about it, without even realising what he was doing, Reid had started reading the letter from Gideon. In fact, he was halfway through the third paragraph before he even realised he was reading it. It was that, the reminder of how Gideon (and the rest of the team, even though he didn't realise it at the time) supported him and helped him through his drug addiction the first time, that had driven him to attend the Beltway Clean Cops.

This was the first time Reid had even considered opening the box containing the letter since then. Part of him didn't know why he was doing it, considering the emotions it pulled to the surface. Another part of him, though, knew he _needed_ to read the letter before he saw Gideon again. To be able to at least talk to Gideon, Reid needed to once again try and understand why Gideon had left, and remember all the good his former mentor had given him before he had walked away.

Reid was so deeply immersed in the letter, he didn't notice Morgan come into the room behind him. "Pretty boy?" he said softly. "What're you doing?"

Reid looked around at Morgan, the letter clutched in one hand. "I'm, well, I'm reading this," he said, showing the letter to Morgan. "I wanted to read it before... before I saw him. Let it help me think."

Morgan nodded. "And did it? Help you think, I mean."

"Yeah. Well, I think so," Reid replied. "It helped me remember, at least."

"What do you need help remembering?" Morgan asked. "You have an eidetic memory."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't really let myself remember," said Reid, putting the letter back in the box and getting to his feet. "I was wanted to think about the good Gideon gave me before he left. I still don't know whether that outweighs him leaving, though."

"I don't think you can know until you talk to him properly, Spencer," said Morgan, coming up and wrapping his arms around Reid. "You need to at least let him try and explain himself, and at least try to talk to him.

Reid sighed, leaning his head on Morgan's shoulder. "I know," he said. "That doesn't mean it's going to be easy."

"That's why you've got me," said Morgan, slowly stroking Reid's hair. "That's why I'm going to be there, to support you.

"We're going to have to be careful," Reid pointed out. "I know neither of us wants Gideon to know about our relationship yet."

"Hmm, I know," said Morgan. "Maybe we should call each other by our last names while we're with him. That will alleviate at least some suspicion."

"Okay," Reid agreed. "I'm just glad you're gonna be there."

"Me too, pretty boy," said Morgan. "Me too."

It had taken Reid and Morgan a long time to decide where to meet Gideon. They obviously couldn't meet him at Reid's house; with Reid no longer living in his apartment and instead now living with Morgan, it would raise too many questions. Reid didn't particularly want to meet him in public, either. The last time, Reid had felt horribly exposed, like everyone was watching him and waiting to see what he'd do. No, it was best for them to meet in private, where they could be alone and Reid could think properly.

Eventually, Reid and Morgan had just decided to talk to Gideon in the same park where they'd had their picnic. It was quiet and secluded, and not many people would be there. It was perfect.

"You're gonna be fine, Spencer," Morgan whispered into Reid's ear, as they sat on a park bench waiting. "Everything's gonna be fine."

Reid sighed. "Keep telling me that, and I might actually believe you," he replied, wringing his hands. "I just… I don't know how to do this."

Morgan put his hands on top of Reid's, stopping them from moving. "Pretty boy, _listen_ to me. Nobody expects you to know how to do this; this is a difficult situation. But you can do this. I know you can," he said passionately.

"Thanks, Derek," Reid sighed. Suddenly, he withdrew his hands from Morgan's. "He's here," Reid whispered in response to Morgan's questioning look.

Morgan turned around. Sure enough, Jason Gideon was walking across the park towards them, an uncharacteristically nervous look on his face. Well, at least it _had_ been uncharacteristic for Gideon. He'd be gone for so long, Morgan and Reid couldn't be sure anymore.

"Gideon," said Morgan in greeting, rising to his feet.

"Morgan," Gideon replied, stopping a few feet from the agent. Reid didn't speak, and he didn't rise from the park bench, either. "It's good to see you again."

Morgan didn't reply to Gideon; instead he just scowled at him. "What are you here for, man?" he asked.

"I just want a chance to at least talk," said Gideon. "I don't expect you to forgive me. Either of you- especially you, Reid. That's not what I came here for."

"Then talk," said Reid, speaking for the first time since Gideon had arrived. "Tell me what you came here to tell me."

Gideon glanced over at Morgan, then back at Reid. "He's here at my request," said Reid in answer to Gideon's unasked question. "Moral support. This isn't an easy thing for me to do alone."

"Of course," said Gideon. "May I sit down?" Reid gestured to the bench beside him with one hand, and Gideon sat. "So I guess I should explain some things, then."

"I guess you should," said Morgan shortly, crossing his arms across his chest. Gideon scrutinised Morgan closely, a slightly puzzled look on his face, before turning back to face Reid.

"The last thing I wanted to do was leave you, Reid-" Gideon began, but Reid interrupted him.

"Please, don't, Gideon," said Reid, a distressed tone to his voice. Gideon fell silent instantly. "Please, don't try to apologise. I- I don't think I can handle that. Just an explanation. _Why_ did you leave us?"

"I couldn't do it anymore, Reid," said Gideon simply. "The job… it just got too hard for me. After Sarah, I… I started seeing her everywhere. Every victim, I imagined it was her. And I knew I couldn't go on being a profiler, knowing my ability was compromised like that. Eventually something I did or said would have been the catalyst of the team's destruction. I had to get out."

"So you just _ran_?" said Reid incredulously, beginning to feel an uncharacteristic anger rising in his chest. "You- you just left us, without a word of warning? Without saying goodbye?"

"I left you the letter, Reid," said Gideon, slightly desperately.

"The _letter_?" Reid exclaimed. "That's exactly the same thing my dad did when he walked out and abandoned me and my mum. I always thought you were better than him; that you could give me what he never did. Now I see that you were exactly the same." He quickly looked down at his hands, feeling almost ashamed at his outburst, but still feeling rather angry towards Gideon.

Morgan's hands twitched. He wanted to reach out and comfort Reid, but he knew he couldn't without arousing Gideon's suspicions. As it was, Gideon's eyes flickered over to Morgan's restless hands, before going back to an emotional Reid.

"I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, Reid," said Gideon gently. "I never expected that. And yes, I know I hurt you by just running away. After everything you'd already been through, I did the one thing I promised myself I would never do: hurt you. And for that I am terribly, terribly sorry. It was just…" Gideon trailed off, and took a deep breath before continuing. "After everything, I felt that the only thing I could do was run. I couldn't say goodbye to all of you, especially you, Reid, because I knew that doing so would convince me to stay. And I knew that wasn't the right thing to do. I also thought that, if I just walked out of your life, you could learn to live without needing me anymore."

"You're right," said Reid. "I don't need you anymore." Unbidden, Reid's gaze drifted over to Morgan before moving quickly back to Gideon. "But I have missed you, Gideon."

"I've missed you too," Gideon said almost uncertainly, as if he wasn't sure whether it was the right thing to say or not.

"You know, Prentiss said something to me not long after you left, when I was still raw and angry," said Reid suddenly. "She reminded me that you had given me some good years before you left. And that's true; without you, I would never have gotten into the BAU in the first place." Reid hesitated for a moment, his gaze flickering over to Morgan again before continuing. "And she also told me that I needed to think about why you addressed your goodbye letter to me, and no one else on the team. Only me."

"And?"

"I was the only one you really _had_ to say goodbye to," Reid realised. The look on Gideon's face told Reid he was right. "You knew that leaving would hurt me the most, because of everything in my past. And you knew that out of everyone on the team, I was the one that relied on you the most. That's why you had to explain to me: because if I had thought you'd left us and abandoned me for no reason, I would've gone downhill again. Fast."

Once again, Reid eyes twitched over to Morgan. Morgan knew exactly what his boyfriend meant; if Gideon had left Reid without reason or explanation, he may have turned to drugs again. The thought was enough to make Morgan shudder. He didn't even want to think about Reid having to rely on that again.

"At least you gave me that, Gideon," said Reid. He sighed, thinking hard about what he was going to say next. "I… I don't know whether I can ever truly forgive you. You left me, and you knew what had been in my past. You knew it would hurt me."

"I understand that, Reid," said Gideon. "I never expected you to."

"I want to move on, at least," said Reid. "That's why I'm here. There were… things that needed to be said. I'm not saying that I never want to talk to you again, Gideon. I'm just saying… it's going to be hard. It was easier for the others to move on than me."

"Everyone except for Morgan," said Gideon.

"He's very… protective of me," said Reid slowly, trying not to give anything away. "He always has been; you remember that."

"I do." Gideon rose to his feet. "Well, as long as I know you're happy and being looked after, I can leave a happy man." He held out his hand to Reid. "Hopefully I'll see you again sometime, Spencer."

Reid couldn't help but smile at the use of his first name. "Goodbye, sir," he replied, standing up and taking Gideon's hand. "And you will. I don't know when it will be, or how willing I will be for that time to come, but it will."

"Goodbye." Gideon turned to leave, but after a few steps he turned back. "Oh, and Morgan?" he said. "Look after Spencer, and don't hurt him like I did- he doesn't need the man he loves to break his heart."

Reid and Morgan looked at each other, stunned. How had Gideon known? "I- uh, we're not-" Morgan stammered, but Gideon just laughed.

"Morgan, I can tell," said Gideon simply. "Reid never acted around anyone the way he acts around you. He wouldn't ask just anyone to come here with him today. Just look after Reid, okay?"

Even though he knew that he hadn't truly forgiven Gideon for hurting Reid, Morgan couldn't help but smile. "I will, Gideon. You can count on that."

"Good." And with that, Gideon turned and walked away, leaving the two agents behind him, slightly stunned, but holding hands.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ah, Gideon... of course he'd know about Reid and Morgan- he is Gideon, after all! So now Reid can move on from Gideon, but there is still the nagging little problem of Morgan's issue with Elle to deal with. And Jordan is still hanging around- she hasn't left yet!**

**So did you guys like Reid and Gideon's conversation? Send me a review and tell me what you think!**

**A note from Diamond Cobra: "I'm just casually betaing and wearing a (fake) spirit hood :3"**


	13. We Don't Always Get the Goodbye We Need

**A/N: I am so unbelievably sorry for the wait guys, but the final year of school really is a bitch. But _finally_, here is the next chapter. Unfortunately, besides the epilogue that will definitely be coming a lot sooner than this chapter did, this is the last chapter for this story. But fret not, because there are still many more stories in this series to come. The next one will be based off 5x01 Nameless, Faceless. The working title, which I don't expect to change, is _Leg Wound_. I expect it to be either a oneshot or a twoshot, probably no longer than that. The story after that one will be a multi-chapter though, and I kinda drop a hint about what coming in it in the epilogue of this story!  
>But enough about that, on with the chapter!<strong>

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

* * *

><p>"I still can't believe Gideon knew," Morgan remarked to Reid, as they sat in the round table room after a morning briefing. Hotch, JJ and Jordan had already left the room, leaving Rossi, Prentiss and Garcia with the couple.<p>

"Wait, what did Gideon know?" Prentiss asked.

"He, uh, he knew about us," Reid admitted. "That me and Derek are together."

"Seriously?" Garcia exclaimed. "Gideon knew? _How_?"

"Because no matter how long ago he left this job, Gideon is still a damn good profiler," said Morgan. "We certainly didn't tell him. He just… _knew_."

"I think he figured it out the moment he saw you there with me," said Reid. "I mean, normally I would try to do that kind of thing by myself. Go and see Gideon, I mean. I wouldn't let anyone be there with me unless they meant that much to me."

Morgan didn't know what to say to that- not in front of the others, at least. He just smiled at Reid, and knew that his boyfriend understood his silent words: _I love you_.

Rossi was the first one to break the silence. "So is Gideon gone now?" he asked.

Morgan nodded. "I think so," he said. "He never said as much, but I'm pretty sure he has. He did what he came here to do."

"Which was?" said Rossi, although he suspected he already knew the answer.

"To talk to me," Reid answered. "Make sure I'm okay. Which, obviously, I am."

"Yeah, because you've got a big strong man to protect you now, don't you?" Prentiss joked. Reid blushed bright red, and Morgan and Rossi just laughed.

"Well, Gideon did say he was able to leave a happy man as long as he knew that Reid was happy and being looked after," Morgan informed her. "So yes, he will be okay as long as he's got me." Reid smiled at Morgan, and Rossi, Prentiss and Garcia gave each other knowing, pleased looks.

"We should get back to work," said Rossi after a while. Before any of them could leave the room, though, Hotch, JJ and Jordan returned.

"What's going on?" Garcia asked.

"I'm leaving," Jordan announced. "JJ's fully recovered now; there's no reason for me to stay around anymore. And I'm ready to go back to counterterrorism again. That's where I belong."

Prentiss smiled. "Well, it's been good to have you around again, Jordan," she said. "I'll miss you." Prentiss stepped forward and hugged Jordan, who smiled and hugged her back.

"I'll miss you too, Prentiss," Jordan agreed.

Rossi was next to say goodbye. "It's been good to work with you again, kiddo," he said. "Even if it was only for a very brief time. I hope life treats you well, wherever it takes you."

"Thank you, Agent Rossi," said Jordan. "It's been good working with you. I've learnt a lot from you."

"That's good to know," said Rossi with a smile.

As soon as Rossi had stepped away from Jordan, Garcia came forward and wrapped her arms around the female agent, hugging her tightly without a word of warning. "You make sure you're okay, alright woman?" she said. "Because if you're not, I'm going to hunt you down. And you don't want that, do you?"

The whole team, including Jordan, laughed. "I'm sure I don't," Jordan agreed. "I'll be sure to look after myself then, Garcia. Goodbye."

The mood in the room suddenly became a lot more serious, as Jordan stepped away from Garcia and turned to face Reid and Morgan. "Reid, Morgan, I-"

"Jordan, you've already apologised to us," Morgan interrupted. "You don't need to do it again."

"No, I need to say this," Jordan insisted. "I know I've already apologised to the both of you for my behaviour when I found out about your relationship, but that's not what I want to say anyway." She took a deep breath, as if to steel herself. "I just wanted to let you know, that I hope you have every success for your relationship in the future. I really hope you're happy, because you deserve it. Truly."

Reid looked at Morgan briefly before turning back to Jordan, a warm smile on his face. "Thank you, Jordan. Thanks for saying that, really."

"Thanks, Jordan," Morgan said as well. "I know we kinda sprang this on you, and I'm sorry for that. But I'm glad you understand. I'm in this relationship for the long haul, and I'd hate to have someone who I consider to be a friend not being happy with this."

Jordan smiled, relief evident on her face. "Well you're definitely not going to have that problem with me, Morgan," she promised. She stepped forward and hugged the man, before turning to face Reid again. He looked at her a little nervously, but still smiling.

"Reid." Jordan swallowed, trying to think about exactly what to say. "I assure you, that my surprise at hearing you were in a relationship with Morgan is not because I don't think you are… good enough, I guess I should say. You're just… so _different_, you know what I mean?"

Reid laughed. "Yeah, I do," he agreed. "Derek's athletic, he's strong, he plays sports, he can actually fire a gun pretty damn accurately." The others- especially Hotch, who was with Reid when he shot Phillip Dowd in the heart while aiming for his leg- had to laugh at that one. "Whereas me… academics were everything. Facts, figures books. And despite what any of you might tell me, I am still really awkward in social situations."

"Hey, Reid, you are pretty popular," JJ butted in. "We all love you. Especially this one over here." She elbowed Morgan playfully in the ribs, and everyone laughed again. "And we're not the only ones," she added. "Lot's of people love you."

"That may be… now," Reid agreed. "But my point is, Jordan is right. Derek and I are polar opposites. But opposites do attract, you know."

"Don't I know it," Morgan chuckled under his breath.

"Exactly," Jordan agreed. "My point is, anyway, that you may be opposites, but seeing you guys together… I don't know. It's like you were meant to be."

"That phrase is a cliché, you know," said Reid. "Nobody can know whether something is 'meant to be', as nobody can know what their future holds." When the others shook their heads, smiles on their faces, Reid added, "But I see what you mean, Jordan. I really do. I think Derek and I are good together."

"You are good together," said Jordan. She moved closer to Reid. "I'm going to miss you, genius." She reached out and hugged him, and after a moment of shock Reid hugged her back.

"You too, Jordan," Reid replied, extricating himself from Jordan's arms. "It's been good to see you again."

Jordan stepped back, taking one last look at the whole team. She had a smile on her face. "I really will miss you guys," she admitted.

"We'll all miss you too," said Rossi, while the others all nodded in agreement. "Hopefully we'll see you again soon."

Jordan nodded, offering the team one last smile and a wave, before turning and headed out of the room, through the bullpen and into the elevator.

Reid sunk into the nearest seat. "I'm exhausted," he admitted.

"Probably because you haven't had any caffeine this morning," Morgan joked. "I really should've stocked up; I should've known you'd drink the coffee so quickly."

"That's not it," Reid protested. "Well, okay, yeah, I haven't had any coffee this morning, but it's been a long few weeks."

"That's true," Garcia agreed. "What with Elle randomly appearing, then Jordan, then Gideon, we've had enough reunions to last us a lifetime."

"And then having to tell them about us," Morgan chimed in, indicating himself and Reid. "Although Gideon did figure it out on his own…" Hotch and JJ, who had been in the room when the pair had divulged that information, exchanged shocked looks.

"He _knew_?" JJ gasped. "Gideon _knew_? Did you tell him? Did Elle tell him?"

"No, and I'm almost certain no," Reid replied. "We definitely didn't tell them, and I'm pretty certain that Elle didn't tell him. Well, I clearly asked her not to, and I would hope that she wouldn't tell."

"So then how did he-"

"He's still very good at what he does," Hotch answered for Reid and Morgan. "Am I right?"

Both men nodded. "No matter how hard we were working at trying to hide our relationship, there are still aspects of our body language that we can't hide," said Morgan.

Prentiss chuckled. "Okay, now you _really_ sound like Reid," she said. "You're seriously talking like him now!"

"You know, there is evidence to show that couples unconsciously start mirroring each other's actions and words when they have been together for an extended period of time," Reid informed the others.

"But you've only been together three months," said Prentiss, confused.

"Yeah, but we've known each other for years before that," Reid reminded her.

"That's true," Prentiss conceded. "Knowing each other and working so closely with each other for years before you got together could cause you to pick up each other's mannerisms quicker than most other couples."

"As much as this conversation amuses me, we really need to get back to work," Rossi interrupted. "Or else Strauss is going to come in here and ask questions."

At the mention of Strauss's name, the team instantly scuttled, heading to their respective offices and desks.

"Hey, Derek?" said Reid, as Morgan made to walk out of the room after the others.

"Yeah?" said Morgan, stopping and turning around to face Reid.

"You're coming straight home after work, right?" Reid asked him, a strange tone of nervousness in his voice.

"Yeah, of course I am," Morgan answered, confused. "Why, is something wrong?"

Reid shook his head. "No, nothing's wrong," he assured his lover. "I was just wondering, that's all." He smiled, walking to the door and pausing at Morgan's side. "I love you."

"I love you too, pretty boy."

* * *

><p>Reid was oddly jittery when he and Morgan arrived home from work that evening. It was strange, even for him.<p>

"Hey, Spencer, are you okay?" Morgan asked. "You're acting really weird. Even for you."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Reid answered, his standard answer whenever asked him whether he was okay. "It's just… been a long couple of weeks, that's all."

Morgan gave him a wry smile. "That is very true. A lot has happened." He moved closer to Reid, snaking his arms around the genius's slender waist. "But as long as I still have you at the end of it, I'm happy." He smiled, pressing a soft kiss to Reid's lips. "I love you, baby."

Reid sighed, resting his head on Morgan's shoulder. "I love you too. No matter what." The pair stood there in silence for a very long moment, just holding each other, but the sound of a car outside made Reid tense in Morgan's arms.

"Spencer?" said Morgan. "Don't try to play the 'I'm fine' card now. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's _wrong_, I don't think," said Reid, slowly and regretfully extricating himself from Morgan's arms, "but I'm not so sure you're going to be happy with me in a few minutes."

"Why on earth wouldn't I be happy with you?" Morgan asked. Reid remained silent, looking down at the floor. "_Spencer_, tell me."

"You'll find out soon enough," said Reid, still not looking Morgan in the eye. He was clearly afraid of how Morgan would react when he found out what was going on, but Morgan himself was completely stumped. He had absolutely no idea why Reid was acting this way.

He knew his answer was coming soon, though, when the doorbell rang and Reid jumped as if he'd been chastised. Whatever Reid had been nervous about, it had just arrived.

"M-maybe I should go get that," Reid stammered, hurrying out of the room before Morgan could say or do anything. The older man could hear Reid talking with someone at the door, but he couldn't make out by the sound of their voice who that person was. Eventually, though, Reid returned to the room, with someone trailing behind him.

It was Elle.

Morgan stared at the pair, completely shocked. Reid looked rather sheepish, whereas Elle looked like she didn't know quite what to expect. "You invited _Elle_ over?" Morgan gasped.

"You and her need to talk, Derek," Reid said in a small voice.

"We damn well don't!" Morgan almost yelled, and Reid jumped backwards. Elle shot him an apologetic smile, placing a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

"Don't you dare touch him!" Morgan yelled, rounding on Elle. "You completely lost that right when you left us!"

"I didn't want to leave you guys, Morgan," Elle said. "And I definitely didn't want to leave you guys feeling the way you did about my departure."

"You still left, Elle," said Morgan. "You still left the team, without a proper goodbye, without at least talking to us first. And you shot a man in cold blood."

Elle didn't know what else to say- she knew that she couldn't counter what Morgan had said. "Derek, please," Reid whispered. Morgan turned to look at his lover, seeing the pleading look on his face. "Please, please talk to Elle. You two need to work things out. I hold absolutely no grudge against her at Elle. You don't need to hold one, either."

Morgan sighed, taking deep breaths to try and get his anger under control. "I know I shouldn't," he admitted. "But I can't help it, Spence. She _hurt_ you, whether you realised it or not. She should've at least had the decency to explain herself to you, to convince you that her leaving wasn't your fault."

"You're right, Morgan," Elle spoke up, surprising the older man. "I just told you guys I was leaving, and then I left. Back then, when it all happened, I just felt that I had to get out of here. I didn't feel safe or _right_ here anymore. But that doesn't excuse the fact that I didn't explain myself to Reid. He reached out to me, tried to help me, and because of that, I need to explain my reasoning to him. Which is what I want to do now, if you'll let me," she added to Morgan.

Morgan nodded. "That's all I want, Elle," he said. "That's the reason I'm angry at you."

Elle nodded at him in acknowledgement and thanks. "Well, first of all, Reid, I just want you to know that what you said to me that night did in any way contribute to me going to confront Lee. In fact, it did the opposite; it almost convinced me not to go. But you need to know, _nothing_ anybody did or said could've stopped me from leaving the FBI and leaving D.C. You can't blame yourself for not saying anything to the team or doing anything about me, because I don't think it would've made a difference. I may not have snapped then, but eventually I would have. You need to know that."

"I know you beat yourself up over this kind of thing, Spencer," Morgan added. "But seriously, _it is not your fault_. You did _everything_ you thought you could, but it just wasn't enough. It's not your fault." He turned to look at Elle, the accusation obvious in his expression. "It's Elle's own fault. _She_ made the decision not to listen to you. _She_ made the decision to shoot Lee. _She_ made the decision to leave. Not you. _Her_."

"Hey!" Elle exclaimed. "I thought I explained that!"

"Yeah, you explained that," Morgan scoffed. "But you still made the decision. You still left. And you know that if I had any evidence that proved you shot that suspect out of anything other than self-defence, I'd arrest you on the spot. Right here."

"Okay, now you sound like Hotch," said Elle.

"Well maybe somebody _needs_ to sound like Hotch," Morgan countered. "Elle, you know what you did was wrong, if not legally, than definitely morally. You've never admitted that. And you never, _ever_ thought about any of us when you made the decision. You never even gave us a goodbye. You owed us that."

"I _couldn't_ say goodbye, Morgan!" said Elle. "It was too hard for me!"

"That's bull, and you know it, Elle!" Morgan cried. "If it was hard on you, it was even harder on us! We never even got the choice about whether we wanted to say goodbye to you or not. Couldn't you have at least given us that?"

Elle opened her mouth to speak, but she had nothing to say. She knew Morgan was right; she'd done wrong by him. By the entire team. "I know," she sighed. "I should've- I should've at least said goodbye to you."

"That you should've" Morgan agreed, crossing his arms.

"And while I may not have admitted it to myself then, I know what I did was wrong," she added, stunning Morgan a little. "I wasn't thinking about anyone else then. I was only thinking about myself. I hope you can forgive me for that, Morgan."

"I think I'm starting too," Morgan said begrudgingly. "I'm certainly not all the way there yet. But I will be. Eventually."

"Good," said Elle, turning to Reid. "And it _really_ wasn't your fault in _any_ way, Reid. You have to believe that."

Reid sighed. "In my heart, I know that," he admitted. "But I- I don't know. I can't help but feel guilty. That's just me."

Elle couldn't help but smile. "I know it is, Reid. But I'm here to tell you that you don't need to feel that way, alright? It was my own choice to do what I did. Nothing and no one could've stopped me."

Reid smiled. "Thanks, Elle," he said. "I… I think I can really believe that now. But I thought I asked you here to work things out with Derek."

"I think in talking to you, I did work things out with him," said Elle. "How I left things with you was the only real issue there. I hope."

"You don't need to worry, Elle," said Morgan with a grin. "That is the only real issue, that's true. I'm still not so sure we've gotten past it yet. You hurt Spencer, Elle, no matter what your intentions were or are now, and you need to make up for that. But I think we're on the way there."

"I think I can understand that. It makes sense," Elle said, a mischievous smirk crossing her face as another thought crossed her mind. "I think there's some stuff you two need to explain to me, though. About how you became more than friends."

Morgan groaned. "I should've known you would get to that, Elle," he said. "Do you want to explain it Spence, or shall I?"

"You do it," said Reid with a small smile. "You certainly look like you want to."

"Well me, Reid and Prentiss- that's the agent we got to replace you- were working in the bullpen, and we were kinda teasing Reid because he never has a girl. So he storms off, hurt, and just watching him go, something felt different. That's when I realised what I felt for him was more than friendship," Morgan explained.

"So anyway, Spencer went off to the break room, and JJ went in there after him. She just _knew_ that he was gay, and that he had feelings for me. She convinced him to talk to me, and well… here we are. Living together already."

"How long have you been together?" Elle asked.

"Three months," Reid replied. "No one outside of the team knows about us, though. And before you ask, we've only been living together for a very short amount of time."

Elle shook her head, a smile on her face. "Spencer Reid and Derek Morgan," she said. "Who would've ever guessed that?"

Morgan chuckled. "I don't think even we would've guessed that," he admitted. "It took me a long time to figure out how I really felt about Spence."

"And I was in denial for a very long time," said Reid. "I don't know about Derek, though, but like I told you last time, I think I've been slowly been falling for him since the first time I saw him."

"The same for me too," Morgan said. Reid looked at him, a little surprised. "I didn't realise it straight away, obviously," he added. "But after I thought about it, I realised that the way I felt for you couldn't have just cropped up overnight. And looking back, I realised that I _have_ been falling for you since we first met. I've called you pretty boy since the very early days, remember?"

Reid nodded, a half-annoyed, half-happy smile on his face. "It used to annoy me a little bit," he said.

"_Used to_?" Elle repeated. "What, you like it now?"

"Well… yeah," Reid replied. "Now I know what he actually means by it."

"Aw, pretty boy," said Morgan, affectionately ruffling Reid's hair. Reid automatically reached up to fix it, but he was still smiling.

"I'd love to stay longer, but I can tell you two are about to get lovey-dovey and do things that I don't really wanna see," said Elle. "I'll see you boys around, okay? Maybe at your wedding?"

Morgan reached out his hand, and Elle shook it. "Definitely, Elle," he agreed. "Although _not_ the wedding thing. It's only been three months; we're not there. Yet."

"Well either way, I'll be seeing you soon then," Elle said. "Bye boys."

When Elle had left, Reid turned to face Morgan. "Not there _yet_?" he repeated.

"Well we aren't," said Morgan, pulling Reid into his arms once again.

"No, I know that," said Reid. "It's only been three months; I'm not there yet either. I was talking about the _yet_ part."

"I can't imagine my future without you, Spencer," Morgan admitted. "So one day, yes… marriage could be on the cards. Not yet, but one day." He ran one finger lightly down Reid's bare arm, sending a shiver through the younger man. "In the meantime, though, do you want to do those _things_ that Elle didn't want to see?"

"I'd like that very much, Derek," Reid said, his hands already pulling up Morgan's shirt.

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><p><strong>AN: So how did you like the chapter? Was it worth the wait? Be sure to review and let me know what you think! I love reading all of your amazing reviews, thanks so much for them!**

**Oh, and you know why I kinda don't like living in Australia right now? Because there is still no sign of Criminal Minds season 7 premiering here, nor any sign of the DVD release of season 6. I mean, I've watched the first three eps of season 7 online, but still... I wanna watch them on TV. I'm a little bit jealous of every country it's already started in right now.**

**Note from Diamond Cobra: "I never liked Elle in the show. Not sure why."**


	14. Epilogue: Just You and Me

**A/N: So it's time for the final chapter (well, epilogue) of Reunion! I can't believe it's finally over- I've dragged it out long enough, huh? It is at least 1,000 words shorter than usual, but then again it is only an epilogue! Oh and don't worry, there _will_ be a sequel to this, guys! The working title, which I really don't think will change, is _Leg Wound_. So here it is, ladies and gentleman: the epilogue to Reunion!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.**

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><p>"You have no idea how much I just want to lie here and never have to get up, Derek," Reid sighed as he sat down on the edge of the bed, taking off his shoes. It was one week since they had seen Elle, (and after they had told the team that Elle was going to stay in or near DC for a while, so she'd be around if they wanted to contact her) and due to a brutal case in Kansas City, Reid and Morgan still hadn't celebrated their three-month anniversary. They'd acknowledged it, of course, but they'd done nothing to commemorate it. They were planning to do just that the next day- a lazy day inside, with popcorn and junk food and lots of movies. Nothing fancy, but they really did need simple right now.<p>

"You have no idea how much I want to join you, Spence," Morgan replied, sitting down beside Reid. "I'm just so tired, you know?"

"I do," said Reid, reaching up to undo his tie. Morgan, however, reached out and placed his hand over Reid's, stopping him.

"Let me," he whispered. "Please." Reid was motionless for a moment, but then he nodded, relaxing his hand. With deliberate slowness, Morgan began loosening Reid's tie, lifting it over his head and placing it down beside them. The sweater vest was next to go, Reid lifting his arms obligingly so Morgan could pull it easily over his head. Finally Morgan began unbuttoning Reid's shirt, his fingers lightly grazing the younger man's skin as he worked. He was ever so gentle, and when he had removed Reid's shirt he brushed Reid's hair tenderly out of his face with two fingers, before pressing a feather-soft kiss to Reid's lips. "I love you, pretty boy," he said, as if it were the most obvious, easy to say thing in the world. Which in his mind, it was.

"I love you too, Derek," Reid replied in the same voice. "But… where is all this _gentleness_ coming from? I mean, not that I don't like it- I do, and I really wouldn't mind if you did stuff like this more often, but-"

Morgan reached out and put a finger to Reid's lips, effectively shutting him up. "Sometimes, you just need a little bit of gentleness to relax you and make you realise how special and loved you really are, you know?"

Reid smiled behind Morgan's finger. "I do," he said. He removed Morgan's hand from his mouth, and with the same gentleness and softness Morgan had shown him, lifted Morgan's shirt over his head. "Sometimes, you need it too."

"Sometimes I do," Morgan agreed. He eased Reid backwards slowly, until they were both lying on the bed, their heads resting on the pillows facing each other. Both of them were still wearing the pants they had worn to work, but neither of them cared. They were too tired now to take them off.

"You know, after all's been said and done, I kind of don't mind Jordan, Elle and Gideon knowing about us," Reid said as they were lying there, their hands intertwined between them. "I like people knowing about us."

"I like people knowing about us too, Spence," said Morgan. "I love you man, and I like people knowing that. Because this is real, and hopefully it will last, and that can't be the case if nobody knows about it."

"Eventually, everyone's gonna find out about it," said Reid. "My mum, definitely. Possibly my dad."

"You still talking to your dad?" Morgan asked.

"Sometimes," Reid answered. "I call him occasionally. I mean, we're not close yet, and I don't know whether we will be, but after I saw him while we were investigating Riley Jenkins' murder… we're _trying_ to work things out, at least."

"Good," said Morgan, smiling. "At least you're trying." He hesitated for a moment. "Do you… do you think he would be happy, about us?"

"I don't know," said Reid honestly. "I mean, I'd like to think he would. I don't _think_ he'd have anything against it. He'd be shocked, yes, but who wouldn't be? To be honest, I think he'd be happy as long as I am."

"Good," said Morgan again. "And your mum?"

"I don't think my mum is the best example in this, Derek," Reid laughed. "But her, I know, would be happy as long as she knows I'm in love and that I'm being loved. No matter who I was with."

"Well, you're definitely being loved," said Morgan, pressing a kiss to the hand Reid had linked with Morgan's own. "Your mother doesn't have to worry about that."

"You know, eventually Strauss and the entire FBI is going to find out about us," Reid pointed out.

Morgan sighed. "Yeah, I know. And we'll deal with that when it comes. But we don't have to worry about that yet; I think we can hold off on that one. My family, on the other hand…"

"You want to tell them?" said Reid.

"I've always wanted to tell them, baby," Morgan replied. "I just… I want to tell them in person, you know? But next chance we get, we're going to Chicago. Okay?"

"Okay," Reid agreed. "You know, this will be the first time anybody has brought me home to meet their parents."

Morgan smiled at Reid, brushing his hair out of his face with his free hand. "Well, I am more than honoured to be the first one to bring you home to my family," he said. "And I know they'll love you."

"Hmm." Reid looked thoughtful. "You know, the time we went to Chicago for- well, to help you- your sister said that you talked about me with them."

"Well, I would," said Morgan. "You've always been special to me, pretty boy, long before we were more than friends. I reckon they'd be less surprised than most when we tell them about us."

"I really want them to like me, Derek," said Reid.

"They will, there's no doubt about that," Morgan assured him. "But we don't have to worry about that now, anyway. Right now, I just want to lie here and not worry about anything."

"We can definitely do that." Reid snuggled in closer to Morgan, curling up with his head on Morgan's chest, listening to his heart beat. "Wow... your heat beat's in sync with mine."

Morgan laughed. "That's because they beat for each other, baby. Every single time my heart beats, it beats for you."

Reid chuckled but quickly fell silent, listening intently to Morgan's heart. _How you've given your heart to _me_, I will never understand_, he thought to himself. _I am so lucky to have ended up with you_.

The two of them lay there in happy silence for a moment, content with being able to hold each other and not have to think or worry about anything else. Content, at least, until Morgan's phone began to ring.

Morgan sighed heavily. "Not now," he groaned. "Please, please not now." He looked at the caller ID before answering. "JJ, please don't tell me we've got a case."

"Nope, no case," JJ said on the other end of the phone.

"Then why are you calling?" Morgan asked. "Not that I'm not happy to hear from you, especially since we don't have a case, but we were just about to go to sleep. We're kinda tired."

"I won't keep you very long," JJ assured him. "It's just that Will and I were thinking of having a barbeque at our place this weekend, and we were wondering if you two would be able to come."

"Barbeque at your place?" Morgan repeated, mainly so Reid knew what JJ was inviting them to. The young genius smiled and nodded at Morgan. "We'll be there, then."

"Great!" said JJ. "I'll see you boys Sunday at six, okay?" She hung up the phone, plunging the room into silence once again.

"Why is JJ having a barbeque at her house?" Reid asked.

"No idea," Morgan replied, putting the phone back down on his dresser. "She probably thought we needed it after the past couple of weeks. And it's on Sunday, so we can still have our lazy movie day to celebrate our anniversary tomorrow."

"I can't wait for that," said Reid.

"Me neither," said Morgan. "It'll just be you and me, watching movies, on _our_ couch in _our_ house. Like it should be."

"Exactly like it should be," Reid agreed. "Although we can't forget Clooney now, can we?"

"No, we can't," Morgan laughed. "The little guy growing on you, is he?"

"I think I've gotten used to him now, and he's gotten used to me," said Reid. "He's not so bad, which is saying something since most animals can't stand me."

"It's because he knows that I love you, so he's gotta love you too," said Morgan, pressing a kiss to the top of Reid's head. "And he knows you're not going anywhere any time soon. Plus, I think he just likes you. It's hard not to like you."

"I think you're talking about yourself when you say it's hard not to like you," Reid retorted. "But thanks. I like Clooney too."

"Well I'm glad you do," said Morgan. "Because I don't know whether I'd be able to choose between you." His face was serious at first, but then he broke into a wide grin, ruffling Reid's hair. "I'm joking," he assured Reid. "My dog will never come between us."

"And I would never want to come between you and your dog," Reid added. "But can we sleep now? I'm really tired." After telling Jordan about us, and then seeing Gideon and Elle again, and then that case in Kansas City, we haven't had a chance to really _sleep_ in a very long time. And I think we really need it."

"That, we do, Spencer," Morgan agreed. "And then just a lazy day tomorrow watching movies. But one thing: _no_ Star Wars movies."

"What?" Reid gasped, pulling away from Morgan for a moment. "Why?"

"Because we're always watching Star Wars," said Morgan. "I'm pretty sure we've seen all of them by now."

"Actually, we haven't watched number three together yet," Reid informed him.

"Whatever," said Morgan dismissively. "We're still not watching Star Wars."

"You just don't want me to realise that you secretly like them, don't you?" said Reid, a smirk on his face. "I saw how much you were into it last time," he added, when he saw the shocked look on Morgan's face. "I am a profiler, remember? And I'm particularly skilled in reading body language. So it's all too possible that I would be able to deduce that you actually enjoyed the movie."

"Alright, _fine_," said Morgan. "I do like Star Wars. Happy?"

"Very much so," said Reid, a note of triumph obvious in his voice. "Now you can't say no to me wanting to watch Star Wars."

"Oh, nuh uh uh-"

"Or I will tell Garcia," Reid added. Morgan sighed, defeated.

"Alright then, pretty boy," he said. "But can we please sleep now?"

"We most definitely can," said Reid. He closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around Morgan and holding him close. "I love you, Derek," he whispered.

"I love you too, Spencer," Morgan replied, as he too closed his eyes. "I love you too."

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><p><strong>AN: So there it is! What did you guys think of the ending? Did you love it, hate it, something in between? Please send me a review- I'd really love to hear what you think! And thanks to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, favourited and read this and all my other stories- you guys are amazing, I love hearing from you!**

**Note from Diamond Cobra: "Guess what! Me and Eternal have finished high school forever :D"**

**So, reviews one last time?**


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